Bush 'blocks hi-tech arms for Taiwan'
The US will not sell advanced Aegis destroyers to Taiwan
US President George W Bush has decided not
to sell destroyers with the advanced Aegis
combat system to Taiwan on advice from
Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld,
according to reports quoting US officials.
Instead of the advanced Aegis destroyers, Mr Rumsfeld has recommended that Taiwan get four Kidd-class destroyers, with a much less potent ship-borne radar system.
China opposed the sale of the Aegis system because of fears that the destroyers could provide Taiwan with a shield from the mainland's short-range ballistic missiles.
Full details of Mr Bush's decision have not been released, but key lawmakers are expected to be briefed on Monday night. Mr Bush will give the Taiwan delegation his decision on Tuesday.
Sensitive decision
The revelation follows weeks of intense speculation about whether the American administration would be willing to increase arms sales to Taiwan in the wake of the spy plane confrontation with China.
Sino-US relations were strained during the 11-day detention of 24 crew members of US surveillance plane, crippled in a collision with a Chinese fighter.
The arms sales would have significantly reduced the effectiveness of China's main military threat to Taiwan.
The decision was regarded as one of the most sensitive foreign policy issues facing the US president because of its potential impact on relations with China.
China feared that Taiwan would have used the Aegis to shield the island nation from missile attack
Beijing had warned that the sale of the system which Taiwan wanted would have a disastrous effect on its relations with Washington.
Taiwan had asked for the Aegis-equipped destroyers, along with a P-3 submarine hunting plane, M1 tanks, satellite-guided bombs and diesel-powered submarines.
Republican rift
President Bush has been under pressure from hawks in the Republican Party on one side and business interests on the other.
The hawks, who are suspicious of China, had seized on the detention of the US spy plane crew as a means to push for the sales of more advanced weapons to Taiwan.
The BBC's Washington correspondent says that by refusing to sell the Aegis system, the administration has shown its willingness to ignore its own conservative base, which advocated a more confrontational attitude towards communist China.
Some in Congress have threatened to revoke permanent normal trading relations with China.
Fearing a threat to trade, business groups
have heavily lobbied the administration to
maintain good relations with China.
-- Anonymous, April 23, 2001