From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] U.S. Offers Arms Shopping List to Taiwan http://news.lycos.com/headlines/politics/article.asp?docid=RTPOLITICS-CHINA- US A-TAIWAN-DC&date=20010424 Tuesday, April 24, 2001 By Charles Aldinger WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday brushed aside a formal protest from Beijing that its approval of the sale of sophisticated arms, including destroyers and submarines, to Taiwan was a threat to China. President Bush said the weapons list, the biggest offered Taiwan in a decade, was "the right package for this moment" and he did not expect it to cause Sino-U.S. relations, already strained over other issues, to deteriorate further. "The Chinese must understand that we've got common interests; but there's going to be some areas where we disagree and, evidently, one area where we disagree is whether or not the United States ought to provide defensive arms for Taiwan, which I have done," he told the Washington Post. In an interview appearing on the newspaper's web site, Bush said he did not expect anger over the Taiwan arms sales or the dispute with Beijing over a downed U.S. spy plane to interfere with his plans to visit China in October. "I'm going to go over to Shanghai in the fall (for a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum) and fully expect that the invitation that has been extended to me will continue to remain in place," he said. On Tuesday morning a team of U.S. national security officials met with a Taiwan delegation to formally offer four Kidd class destroyers, eight diesel subs, 12 P-3 anti-submarine aircraft and other arms to improve Taipei's defenses. Bush delayed any decision on what Beijing had portrayed as the most provocative item -- four advanced Arleigh Burke destroyers costing $1 billion each and equipped with state-of-the art Aegis air defense system. AEGIS STILL ON THE TABLE Bush's decision keeps the Aegis system on the table in U.S.-China relations, which have been strained by a dispute over the midair collision on April 1 of a U.S. reconnaissance plane and a Chinese fighter jet off the coast of China. Navy Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters it would be up to Taiwan to decide what weapons it wanted. He declined to put a price on the list, but experts said all of the weapons could cost several billion dollars. Asked about charges from Beijing, which considers democratic Taiwan a maverick province, that the submarines were offensive and not defensive weapons, Quigley said: "I would disagree." Ambassador Yang Jiechi delivered China's protest to Marc Grossman, undersecretary of state, at the State Department, spokesman Philip Reeker told a briefing. In Beijing, China said it was seriously concerned by the reports of the U.S. package. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer brushed aside the Chinese concerns and said the way to ease tensions in the region was for Beijing to take a less threatening posture toward Taipei. He said the best way for China to approach this issue was for it to "take fewer actions, rather than more, in terms of its military presence across the (Taiwan) Strait from Taiwan so that there is less of a threat to Taiwan." The annual arms deal falls under the Taiwan Relations Act, which requires the United States to sell weapons necessary to Taiwan's defense even though Washington switched its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979. Quigley conceded the United States did not even build diesel submarines, one of the most sensitive items on the list. But he said Washington could facilitate such a purchase by Taiwan from other countries that build such subs, including Germany, the Netherlands or Italy. DESTROYERS ON THE LIST "There's been no interaction with them (the Dutch and German governments), as it is premature to do so at this point. But if they (Taiwan) do express that interest, we are confident that we can find a way," the spokesman said. Under the proposal, Washington also offered to sell Taiwan four older but modern Kidd class destroyers, a dozen anti-submarine P-3 "Orion" submarine hunter aircraft, torpedoes, minesweeping helicopters, self-propelled artillery and decoys. It is the biggest arms package for Taiwan since the early 1990s when the island bought 150 F-16 fighters from the United States and 60 Mirage 2000-5 fighters and six Lafayette-class frigates from France worth billions of dollars. The U.S. group, which met with the Taiwanese delegation in Washington at the National Defense University, included officials from the Defense and State Departments and the White House National Security Council. The Taiwanese delegation was headed by Gen. Huoh Shoou-yeh, vice chief of Taiwan's military staff. Taiwan legislators on Tuesday welcomed the U.S. offer, but raised doubts about its multi-billion-dollar price tag. U.S. officials said the arms deal was intended to balance China's air defense buildup in the region, but said they would send a diplomatic message to Beijing that "things could be different" if it acted to reduce cross-Straits tensions. Quigley said that the Kidd destroyers would be available beginning in 2003, and were suitable to Taiwan's existing defense needs. The Burke destroyers and Aegis system would not be available in any case until 2010. A White House official said that any decision on selling the Aegis to Taiwan would come closer to the time the system was available. Copyright �2001 Reuters Limited. Get your personalized news here. Copyright � 2001 Lycos, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Lycos� is a registered trademark of Carnegie Mellon University. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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