-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Taipei mulls U.S. arms sale Warships, subs, helicopters may prove too expensive ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By Jon Dougherty © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com Though many weapons Taiwan has requested the U.S. sell for a number of years were finally approved for sale by the Bush administration, leaders in Taipei now wonder whether the country has the resources to buy them. Lawmakers worry that the arms deal, which would cost between $7.7 and $9.3 billion, may be too expensive for Taipei to afford. The government now only allots about 2.3 percent of the nation's annual gross domestic product to defense. Also, retired naval officials and current lawmakers are concerned that one portion of the deal -- the U.S.-made Kidd-class destroyers -- may be ill-suited for Taiwan's navy and its ability to operate the ships, given Taiwan's limited capability to berth warships of that size. The Aegis-equipped destroyers Taiwan was hoping to buy from the U.S. were worth about $1 billion each and were smaller than the 1980s-era Kidd-class destroyers. Taiwan will be allowed to buy the U.S. Navy's newest helicopter, the MH-53 "Sea Dragon," the largest helicopter currently in U.S. production. Included in the package of arms authorized by President George W. Bush -- besides four Kidd-class ships -- were eight diesel-electric submarines, 12 P-3C Orion anti-submarine warfare planes and MH-53E amphibious assault helicopters. Speaking at a seminar hosted by Taiwan's National Research Institute, Wu Shih-wen, Taiwan's defense minister, said the navy is currently evaluating the weapons package, including the Kidds, "from the viewpoints of national combat strategy, the threats posed by the 'enemy,' and logical demand and efficiency," according to a report by Agence France-Presse yesterday. Wu said the ministry will make a final decision on the totality of the arms package after the evaluation is complete. With regard to the eight submarines the U.S. agreed to sell, Wu said he didn't know how the U.S. would help Taiwan buy them from a third country, as reported last week. Like other military and government officials, Wu also said he backs a plan to build the submarines in Taiwan, since the country has the technical ability to do so and has built its own warships in the past. To do so would not only upgrade the island's shipbuilding capability but would help ease worsening domestic unemployment in Taiwan, he said. In a bid to make the arms package easier to pay for, Wu pointed out that payments for the weapons would be spread out over several years, thereby reducing the burden on the government in the short term. That kind of payment schedule, he said, "should not become a serious problem" for the "national coffers" or "produce negative side effects on other defense projects." The defense minister told conference attendees that some of the weapons would not be delivered for three to four years -- and that others would take even longer -- so the government would be able to set aside a budget to pay for the items annually, rather than all at once. China vehemently opposed the arms sales package to Taiwan, but Wu repeated earlier government explanations that the weapons are meant to be purely defensive, not offensive. Taiwan military commanders are becoming increasingly worried about China's ongoing massive military buildup of modern warships and submarines, aircraft and ballistic missiles. Wu also said that although the Bush administration, like the Clinton administration before it, had refused to sell the island what it considers the much-needed Aegis warships, the Taiwanese government would continue to ask the U.S. to sell them. Taipei arms talks could remain annual Despite Bush opposition, House panel OKs continuing yearly tradition ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By Jon Dougherty © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com Arms sales discussions and negotiations with Taiwan would remain an annual event under a bill approved by a House panel, even though President Bush has said he wanted to end the yearly debate. The House International Relations Committee, by a voice vote, approved the measure Friday and attached it to the larger State Department appropriations measure for fiscal year 2002-2003. It was one of a number of Taiwan-related measures that committee chairman Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., introduced. Bush said last week that he would no longer hold the annual arms negotiations over what weapons to sell Taiwan but would instead consult with Taiwanese leaders on an "as-needed basis." The president said he was trying to end the bickering, tenseness and animosity between rival lawmakers and with China, which often begins to build months before the actual negotiations begin. However, the committee said the 20-year-old ritual should remain in place. The measure, if passed, would require the president to hold Taiwan arms talks in Washington, D.C., with a U.S. military leader of no less than the level of vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, which has been the norm. Also, Hyde's amendment would require presidents to confer with Congress no less than 30 days before any sale of weapons to Taiwan, to report on what arms the island has requested, give his assessment of Taiwan's military needs for the coming year, and tell why the administration approved or disapproved items. Other provisions in the State Department appropriations bill would urge, but not require, the administration to publicly display the U.S. flag at the office of the American Institute in Taiwan and at the home of the director, in the same manner as U.S. embassies, consulates and official residences worldwide. The measure would also require the administration to consider Taiwan as the "equivalent of a major non-NATO ally for the purpose of sales of defense items or services." That change, officials said, may ease considerably the process for gaining an export license for defense-related items and could speed the arms sales process. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER =========CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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