Posted on 06/05/2002 11:19:36 AM PDT by batter
TAIPEI, June 5 (AFP) - 08:52 GMT - A US company is to build eight German-designed conventional submarines for Taiwan despite pressure from China which regards the island as part of its territory, a report said Wednesday.
"The US government has notified Northrop Grumman to discuss with Taiwan on the type of submarine it is to buy, the price of the arms deal and other details of the contract," the widely circulated China Times quoted a military source as saying.
The Taiwanese navy reportedly favors the German 209-class submarine built by Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) shipyard.
The paper said recent signs suggested the deal would go through despite pressure from rival China.
In a move which infuriated Beijing, US President George W. Bush in April last year approved the sale of eight diesel-electric submarines as part of Washington's most comprehensive arms package to Taipei since 1992.
The US has remained the leading arms supplier to Taiwan despite its shifting of diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
But the United States has not built non-nuclear submarines for more than 40 years and designing a new one would have been prohibitively expensive.
The German business daily Handelsblatt said Northrop Grumman plans to buy a 20 percent stake in HDW after US-based One Equity Partners (OEP) acquired 75 of HDW.
And OEP has announced a tie-up with Northrop Grumman, the China Times said.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Monday a change in ownership of HDW would not affect Germany's "one China" policy or its ban on arms exports to Taiwan.
Berlin recognises Beijing rather than Taipei.
Taiwan's defense ministry declined to comment on the report.
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis has said Bush "made a commitment to Taiwan last April to help it procure diesel submarines ... That commitment was made in earnest and we intend to make good on it."
"We have received a number of viable proposals from industry," he said. "We are in the process of reviewing and assessing those proposals."
Davis would not identify the contractors but defense publisher Jane's said several submarine builders including HDW and Northrop Grumman had submitted concept papers to the US Navy's International Programmes Office, which supervises the submarine deal.
The first submarines are expected to join the Taiwanese navy in 2010 at the earliest.
In the past, the Pentagon had rejected Taiwanese requests for submarines because they were considered offensive weapons.
But it now argues that submarines offer the best defense against a growing Chinese submarine threat to Taiwan's harbors and fleet.
China and Taiwan split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but Beijing has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan if it declares independence.
Meanwhile, Parliamentarian Lin Yu-fang from the opposition People First Party demanded that at least six of the eight submarines be built by Taiwan's China Shipbuilding Corp. (CSBC) to help the island's defense industry.
"If the defense ministry does not try to have the submarines built here, I would ask thousands of CSBC workers to surround the parliament to protest," an angry Lin said after defense minister Tang Yao-ming cast doubts over CSBC's capability to build submarines.
Taiwan's navy currently operates a fleet of four submarines comprising two Dutch-built Sword Dragon models and two aging US vessels.
Things are getting more interesting with this whole sub deal. Bush appears to be sticking to his guns!
Sounds like things are moving along nicely. I would like to see the US get into the conventional submarine business and start taking business away from our cowardly allies in Europe and Australia. This Taiwan deal could just be the beginning for US manufacturing.
The whole world recognizes Beijing and not Taipei because of the "One-China" policy. Any country that has relations with Taipei will not be allowed to have relations with Beijing.
Here's a listing of the few countries that have official relations with Taipei:
Belize
Burkina Faso
Chad
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Gambia
Guatemala
Haiti
Holy See
Honduras
Liberia
Malawi
Marshall Islands
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Senegal
Solomon Islands
St. Kitts and Nevi
Swaziland
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