Tuesday April 24 2:56 PM ET
U.S., Taiwan Work Out Arms Deal, China Fumes

By Peter Millership

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials met on Tuesday with a delegation from Taiwan to offer Taipei submarines, destroyers and aircraft in an arms deal which Beijing greeted with ``serious concern'' and a formal protest.

President Bush will offer Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, the largest arms package in a decade but minus the sophisticated Aegis naval air defense system, White House officials said.

Beijing, which had warned the sale of advanced weapons by the United States to Taiwan could have a ``devastating effect'' on relations, urged Washington not to go ahead with the sale while the news in Taipei was greeted with elation.

The Chinese ambassador to the United States, Yang Jiechi, delivered the protest to Under Secretary of State Marc Grossman, spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters.

``I think one could call it a formal protest based on what they had read and seen in the press,'' he said.

U.S. officials said the arms deal was intended to balance China's air defense buildup in the region, but said they would also send a diplomatic message to Beijing that ``things could be different'' if it acted to reduce cross-Straits tensions.

Bush's relations with China are under strain because of a tense showdown over an April 1 collision between a U.S. EP-3 spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet and by former Taiwan President Lee Teng-Hui's impending visit to the United States.

Washington Brushes Aside Beijing Concerns

Under the arms deal, Washington would sell Taiwan four Kidd class destroyers, a dozen anti-submarine P-3 ``Orion'' submarine hunter aircraft and eight diesel submarines built in Europe, plus other weapons.

Despite the absence of the anti-missile system on the White House list, the big arms deal provoked China's ire.

``China has viewed with serious concern the related reports,'' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said, referring to media reports of the arms package.

``China has consistently opposed the sale of weapons to Taiwan, and resolutely opposed the sale of Kidd class destroyers, P-3 ``Orion'' planes and diesel-powered submarines and other advanced weapons,'' she said. ``All of these are advanced weapons,'' she told a news conference.

It is the biggest package since the early 1990s when Taiwan bought 150 F-16 fighter jets from the United States under President George Bush, the president's father, and 60 Mirage 2000-5 fighters and six Lafayette-class frigates from France.

Washington brushed aside China's concerns.

``The best way to address this...is for China to take fewer actions, rather than more, in terms of its military presence across the Strait from Taiwan so that there is less of a threat to Taiwan,'' Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

The arms deal, which could cost Taiwan several billion dollars depending on what it buys, falls under the Taiwan Relations Act, which requires the United States to sell weapons necessary to Taiwan's defense even though Washington recognizes Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China.

Submarines Jewel Of Package

Bush put off a decision on Taiwan's request to buy four $1 billion elite Arleigh Burke class destroyers equipped with the advanced Aegis system, tucking it away as a bargaining chip in U.S.-China relations.

But a White House official said the United States would keep its options open on the sale of the Aegis air defense radar and weapons system capable of tracking and attacking dozens of missiles, aircraft and ships at once.

It will be up to Taiwan to decide how much of the offered weapons package it will purchase. Taiwan legislators welcomed the U.S. offer, but some questioned its multibillion-dollar price tag.

Some analysts suggested debate over the Aegis component had been a smokescreen.

Yan Xuetong, executive director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Tsinghua University, said Washington used the threat of the Aegis sale as a ``bluff card'' to provide other weapons to Taiwan.

Inclusion of the submarines in the package caused a splash among Chinese analysts.

``The rest is expectable but the submarines are exciting,'' said Robert Karniol, Asia-Pacific editor at Jane's Defense Weekly. ``Taiwan has been trying to get those for a long time.''

Wu Xinbo, a professor at the Fudan University Centre for American Studies in Shanghai, predicted China's response to the arms sale would go beyond words because of the submarines, which could also target Chinese cities.

``At this stage protest is too mild an action, given this break of the red line,'' Wu said, prior to the official protest delivered by the Chinese ambassador. ``I think there will be some substantive actions and this will come very soon.''

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