DATE=4/17/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=TAIWAN WEAPONS UPDATE(L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261450
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The Clinton Administration has decided to
sell Taiwan a powerful radar and some missiles --
but is putting off a request for a fleet of
advanced warships. V-O-A's Jim Randle reports
from the Pentagon.
TEXT: A defense official says Washington has
agreed to sell Taiwan some missiles that planes
can shoot at ships, and top-of-the line missiles
for air-to-air combat.
The air-defense missiles, called AMRAAM, are some
of the most sophisticated in the world, and can
hit targets so far away that pilots can't see
them.
The U-S Military will train Taiwanese pilots to
fire the missiles and equip their planes to
operate them. But a senior official says the
missiles will be kept in the United States --
until and unless --- another nation deploys
similar advanced weapons to threaten Taiwan.
Military experts say China's most credible
military threats are the hundreds of ballistic
missiles Beijing has deployed that could reach
Taiwan.
To track such missiles, Taiwan will get a very
powerful radar called "PAVE-PAWS." Missile expert
John Pike of the private Federation of American
Scientists says the ten-story-tall `pave-paws' is
biggest radar made in America.
He says it can watch missiles five-thousand
kilometers away, and would make Taiwan's existing
Patriot missile defenses work much better.
/// PIKE ACT ///
The Patriot interceptor can fly further and
it's going to significantly expand the area
on Taiwan that can be defended by Taiwan's
missile defense system. It's easy to
understand why Taiwan would want such a big
radar and also easy to understand why the
Chinese wouldn't like it.
/// END ACT ///
The missile threat also prompted Taiwan's request
for U-S built Aegis class warships, but the
administration is putting off that decision for
at least a year.
/// OPT ///
The billion-dollar Aegis destroyers have an
advanced combination of radars, computers, and
missiles for air defense.
Engineers say with upgrades, the system might be
able to shoot down missile warheads. But those
defenses are under development and probably
several years away from deployment.
/// END OPT ///
The defense official says Washington is also
putting off Taiwan's request for diesel-powered
submarines and naval patrol planes, while
military experts study the island's defenses.
The entire arms package for Taiwan will go
through unless lawmakers object to it within one
month.
Many members of the Congressional Republican
majority support selling some of America's best
weapons to Taiwan. But China strongly objects to
the sale, calling it interference in its internal
affairs.
/// REST OPT ///
Tensions between China and Taiwan soared recently
as a candidate (Chen Shui-bien) who previously
supported Taiwan's independence won the race for
president.
China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that
should be brought under central government
control, and has threatened military action if
the island formally declares independence or
stalls efforts to reunite with the mainland.
(Signed)
NEB/JR/gm
17-Apr-2000 19:33 PM EDT (17-Apr-2000 2333 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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