US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce is urging the White House to immediately issue a final authorization for two Perry-class guided missile frigates to be transferred to Taiwan.
After visiting one of the frigates — the USS Gary — in San Diego, California, this week, Royce said that he was continuing efforts to strengthen Taiwan-US relations.
“I understand that the Taiwan navy has already inspected these frigates and is eager for the transfer to happen soon,” he said.
“Now that the US navy and Taiwan navy have completed the paperwork needed for this transfer, I urge President Barack Obama’s administration to not delay a moment longer before transferring these frigates to Taiwan,” he added.
The US agreed in December last year to sell four decommissioned Perry-class frigates to Taiwan. The Ministry of National Defense said the ships would enhance the nation’s defense capabilities and contribute to peace and stability in the region.
China lodged a formal complaint with the US about the transfer and called for an end to all arms sales to Taiwan.
However, after the US House and Senate passed a bill authorizing the sale of up to four frigates to Taiwan, Obama signed it into law.
Taipei quickly agreed to buy two of the frigates and said that it would decide later whether to buy more.
The frigates approved for sale to Taiwan are the USS Gary, USS Carr, USS Taylor and USS Elrod.
Perry-class frigates are 4,165 tonnes and are designed for marine-patrol warfare with secondary anti-aircraft and anti-ship capability.
The USS Gary returned to San Diego from its final deployment with the US Navy in April.
“This frigate is now undergoing a refurbishment in preparation for transfer as one of the eight decommissioned excess frigates to be sold or transferred to friendly nations,” Royce said.
“I am proud to have led the successful naval vessel transfer initiative in the House, which authorized four Perry-class frigates to Taiwan,” he said.
“The United States-Taiwan relationship has, for three decades, been based upon the Taiwan Relations Act and the US engagement to support the people of Taiwan. I have worked to expand Taiwan’s standing in international organizations and to protect Taiwan’s economic stability by supporting its intention to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” he added.
Taiwan has already decommissioned two of its eight Knox-class frigates — built in the early 1970s — to make way for the 30-year-old Perry-class boats. The two Perry-class frigates will cost Taiwan about NT$5.5 billion (US$176.8 million).
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS