Former US secretary of defense William Cohen yesterday met Naval Commander-in-Chief Lee Jye (李傑) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) ahead of a major purchase of submarines by Taiwan.
Cohen, however, declined to confirm speculation that his visit to Taiwan was linked to his private business in related lobbying surrounding Taiwan's purchase of submarines.
"The reason I have come to Taiwan is to renew friendships that I have established over the years. I first came to Taiwan back in 1973," said Cohen when asked if his visit to Taiwan was for the submarine purchase.
PHOTO: LU CHIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Military sources told the Taipei Times that Cohen visited the Tsoying Military Port yesterday morning, accompanied by Lee Jye.
The group visited the sites slated for the mooring of Taiwan's new submarines to be bought from the US as well as the Kidd-class destroyers, sources said.
Cohen made the statement at the foreign ministry after his 30-minute closed-door meeting with Tien yesterday afternoon.
The issue of submarine purchases by Taiwan was not touched upon during the talk, Tien said afterwards.
Cohen also met with Lee yesterday afternoon although details of the closed-door meeting were unavailable.
Local media said Cohen might have been lobbying for his consulting company to represent Taiwan's navy in its purchase of eight diesel submarines although officials declined to confirm the speculation.
Cohen, who arrived here on Tuesday, also met with Lin Chong-pin (
Cohen is also scheduled to meet with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Defense Minister Wu Shih-wen (伍世文) before he leaves today to continue his tour of Asia.
Cohen is scheduled to hold a press conference at CKS airport today before his departure in the afternoon.
The US approved the sale of eight diesel submarines in April, as well as four Kidd-class destroyers and 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft in the US' biggest arms package to Taipei since 1992.
The US, however, has stopped building non-nuclear submarines so the diesel submarines will have to be contracted out to another country.
Military sources here say Taiwan's navy favors German 209-class submarines or Dutch-designed Moray subs. But both European countries have said they will not get involved in arms sales to Taiwan.
According to the US timetable, construction of the first diesel submarine is scheduled to begin in 2005 with delivery slated for 2011.
Taiwan's navy currently operates a fleet of four submarines including two Dutch-built Sword Dragon subs and two US Guppy-class vessels built in the 1940s.
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