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Pentagon report says Taiwan can handle AEGIS

A classified Pentagon report concludes that Taiwan's navy has sufficient manpower and capability to operate, integrate and maintain the four AEGIS destroyers whose sale had been put off by US President Bill Clinton last April.

Clinton decided last April to sell a package of high-tech weapons to Taiwan, but on the Pentagon's recommendation, put off the sale of four AEGIS destroyers, diesel submarines and P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft.

Instead, the Pentagon recommended a comprehensive study of Taiwan's naval defense needs and said that this might lead to future sales of some or all of the weapons.

Sources in Washington told the Taipei Times that the defense department and the headquarters of the Pacific Command sent a task force to Taiwan to conduct a two-week study of Taiwan's surface and under-surface defense needs. The report was finished last week and identified a legitimate need for Taiwan to purchase AEGIS destroyers and P-3 anti-submarines to bolster its defense.

While some have argued that Taiwan lacks the ability to integrate these advanced systems, the report says Taiwan has sufficient manpower and the capability to operate and maintain these weapons systems.

The report, however, does not recommend the sale of submarines to Taiwan, though it does note that an anti-submarine capability is vital to Taiwan's security.

A US official familiar with the report said that it confirms what many in the defense department had already concluded -- that there is an identifiable threat from China and that Taiwan has a legitimate need for the AEGIS system.

However, many also say that the report will stir up a robust debate within the Pentagon and in inter-agency discussions. Some political observers still argue that the final decision will be made on political rather than military grounds.

Congressional sources said that Senator Trent Lott, as well as some other senators, have written a letter to Clinton urging him to sell the four AEGIS destroyers to Taiwan before the end of his term.

Taiwan will submit a new arms purchase list before the end of this year which will, as usual, include the AEGIS system. Taiwan and its supporters in Washington are pushing the current US government to make a final decision.

Some believe it will be difficult for a new US administration to make such a controversial decision next spring. They worry that if Taiwan does not acquire the AEGIS this year, it may be postponed for another year.

Sources say that the Chinese government has already warned Washington that there will be serious consequences if President Clinton decides to sell Taiwan the four AEGIS destroyers.

The destroyers would be equipped with the AEGIS battle management system, an array of radars and computers that are capable of simultaneously tracking more than one hundred targets on land, in the air and at sea.
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