Wednesday April 25 10:32 AM ET
Germany Says Would Reject Taiwan Sub Sale

By Adam Tanner

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government said Wednesday it would refuse any export of its submarines to Taiwan for fear of increasing tensions with China.

The statement follows Tuesday's U.S. announcement it would help Taiwan buy arms including eight diesel submarines. Experts say the submarines would likely be Dutch-designed and German-built vessels equipped with U.S. technology under a U.S.-brokered deal.

``If an application was made to the German government, it would not be approved,'' a German government spokesman said.

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Germany ``on principle'' did not export weapons of war to Taiwan. ``It does not want to increase the tensions in the region,'' she said.

President Bush said in an ABC television interview aired Wednesday that the United States would do ``whatever it took'' to help Taiwan defend itself.

The United States no longer builds diesel submarines, and it remains unclear how Washington would provide such vessels.

``This is the beginning of the process...and the United States would not have indicated they would be available to provide to Taiwan if we didn't believe that we had the means to secure their production,'' White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday.

Navy Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, suggested there were several possible sources for the subs.

``The Germans have a good design. The Dutch have a good design. I believe the Italians -- there are good designs for diesel electric submarines out there,'' he told reporters.

The issue of sending submarines to Taiwan is a delicate one for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

As premier of the western state of Lower Saxony, Schroeder in 1993 lobbied then Chancellor Helmut Kohl to waive national security concerns and allow shipbuilders in his state to build submarines for Taiwan. Schroeder was turned down.

``That's the difference between the role of a regional prime minister who cares about jobs and the role of the chancellor who is responsible for the country's foreign policy,'' his spokesman Uwe-Karsten Heye said Wednesday.

Germany's submarine manufacturer, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Shipyard, said they knew nothing about such a sale.

``We have not received a request from either Taiwan or the United States,'' said spokesman Joergen Rohweder.

Taiwan now has two Dutch-made Zwaardvis class submarines in active service, as well as two aging U.S. subs.

China warned Washington Wednesday that the sale of advanced weapons to Taiwan -- an island it considers a renegade province -- would cause ``devastating damage'' to relations.

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