Taiwan's long-delayed plan to buy eight conventional submarines from the United States may move forward after a reported US concession, legislators said Sunday. Reports said Richard Lawless, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Asia and the Pacific, sent a letter to Taiwan's defense minister Lee Jye last month.
In an apparent policy shift the US has agreed to let Taipei acquire the fleet of eight diesel-powered submarines in two phases, with payment in design and construction separately, the reports said.
Taiwan's defense ministry declined to comment.
Legislator Lee Wen-chung from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, hailed what he called a US concession. "This is tantamount to eliminating the first big hurdle ahead of the arms deal," Lee told AFP.
Under the reported new measures, Taiwan would pay around 360 million US dollars in advance for design and construction preparation.
"At least this would make Taiwan know what type of submarines it would purchase from the United States. This should help the arms deal get going," said legislator Shuai Hua-ming from the leading opposition Kuomintang.
The United States had previously demanded Taiwan's parliament approve the deal without providing specifications for the submarines.
Taiwan's cabinet in 2004 approved a special budget of 610 billion Taiwan dollars (18.2 billion US) for a controversial arms package which called for the eight submarines, P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft and Patriot missiles.
The government was forced to scale back the amount to 340 billion Taiwan dollars under opposition pressure.
But despite the cut, the opposition continued to block the submarine and Patriot deals, with legislators claiming the price for the submarines remained too high.
Washington had estimated the eight conventional submarines for Taiwan's navy could cost up to 11 billion US dollars, more than double the market price, a defense official has told local media.
US President George W. Bush approved the submarine deal in 1991, but it has progressed slowly as the United States has not built conventional submarines for more than 40 years.
Germany and Spain had reportedly declined to offer their designs for fear of offending China, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification — by force if necessary. The Netherlands had also turned down the deal, lawmakers said.
China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it is prepared to use force if the island declares formal independence. The two split in 1949 after a civil war.
The United States remains the leading arms supplier to Taiwan despite its switching of diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.
Source: Agence France-Presse
