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By Andrea Shalal-Esa 2 hours, 27 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday announced plans to sell around $6.5 billion in arms to Taiwan, including 30 Boeing Co Apache attack helicopters and 330 Patriot missiles, in a move that could anger China.
The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency told lawmakers that the sale -- which also includes 32 Harpoon submarine-launched missiles -- would support Taiwan's continuing efforts to modernize its military.
"The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region," said the agency, which oversees major arms sales.
U.S. lawmakers have 30 days to block the six separate arms deals, although such action is rare since any major arms agreements are carefully vetted before they are made public.
The Pentagon said the arms sales were consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, which obliges Washington to help Taipei defend itself. The deals were announced after what analysts had described as a freeze designed to ease tension between Beijing and Taipei, and were quickly lauded in Taiwan.
Taiwan's economic and cultural representative in the United States said the decision marked the end of eight years of "turmoil and confusion," and heralded "the beginning of the new era of mutual trust between our two countries."
In an editorial posted online late Friday, the Taipei Times said any move by Washington to hand off the decision to a new administration would have left either a Republican or Democratic president with an unnecessary burden.
"Starting a term as U.S. president by releasing arms to Taiwan would be far more damaging to U.S.-China ties than releasing them in the dying days of the current presidential term," the editorial said.
China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communists won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists (KMT) fled to the island. Beijing has vowed in the past to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, recognizing "one China," but it remains Taiwan's biggest ally.
PARTISAN WRANGLING
Many of the weapons in the sale were part of a package announced by President George W. Bush shortly after he took office in 2001. They were initially held up by partisan wrangling in Taiwan's legislature over paying for them.
Recently, congressional aides cited concern that the arms sales could prompt Chinese retaliation that would hurt U.S. efforts to ease the financial credit crisis.
The Pentagon announced the sales on Friday afternoon, just hours after the House of Representatives passed a $700 billion financial rescue plan. Bush quickly signed it into law.
The sales include 30 AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters built by Boeing, along with night vision sensors, radar, air-to-air missiles and Hellfire missiles. That deal alone is worth $2.5 billion, if all options are exercised.
In addition to Boeing, major contractors will include General Electric for engines, Lockheed Martin Corp, Northrop Grumman Corp, Raytheon Co and Britain's BAE Systems.
The Pentagon also approved the sale of Patriot advanced capability PAC-3 missiles, radar sets, ground stations and other equipment valued at up to $3.1 billion. Raytheon would be the main contractor, along with Lockheed.
The deals also include up to $250 million in Northrop Grumman upgrades to four E-2T aircraft; up to $200 million in Harpoon Block II missiles built by Boeing and $334 million in spare parts for various aircraft.
Omitted from the arms deal package were two items Taiwan had originally sought, diesel-powered submarines and 60 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp, said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council.
The council said the impasse over the arms deals had done "immeasurable damage" to U.S.-Taiwan ties, but said Friday's congressional notifications marked an important step forward.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Bernard Orr and Alex Richardson)
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Anger China... cute... they sell arms around the world and we don't say anything.. same thing with Russia ... Venezuela anyone? .. but if the U.S. sells arms to Tawain we have to worry about angering China... sux to be bullied and bossed around for once in our history...
-------------------- Let the world change you... And you can change the world.
quote:Originally posted by glassman: so, Mach, you don't recognise Taiwans independence?
(Isn't that the sort of question that some Russian should have been asking his nation's leaders when we were funding Ben Laden in his fight against the U.S.S.R. military machine in Afghanistan back when?)
Arms sales are arms sales. Not meaning to side one way or another, on either the wisedom of selling arms to Taiwan or the independence of Taiwan, I can't see that Taiwan's independence or lack thereof has a lot to do with it. What right do we have objecting to Russia or China dealing with whoever if we insist on the right to do it ourselves?
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