Taiwan Military Offered Hardware Worth US $725 million (7/22/01)

According to a news-report by the French press agency the Agence France Presse of July 22, 2001, the US Pentagon will sell Taiwan advanced military communication equipment worth US$725 million as part of Taiwan's efforts to modernize its forces, a newspaper report said yesterday.

The Joint Tactical Information Distribution Systems (JTIDS) will be used to enhance communication links between Taiwan's defense command and its fighters and warships, Chinese-language media said quoting a dispatch from Washington.

The report said that the Pentagon has notified the US Congress of the move and the arms sales were likely to be approved barring any significant opposition. Beijing is expected to oppose the arms deal to Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Deputy Administrative Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Fu Wei-ku praised the arms sale. "With the equipment, the armed forces can be united as one," he said when asked to comment on the reports.

"It is also important in that it would enable the Taiwan military to use the same language and tools of the allies."

Military analysts said Taiwan's armed forces have long been undermined by incompatible weaponry bought from abroad.

Taiwan's "new generation" of weapons include: 150 US-built jet fighters, 60 French-built Mirages and six Lafayette class frigates, 130 home-made Indigenous Defensive Fighters, and two Dutch-built submarines.

The reports said JTIDS, currently being used by the US military, would enable "Taiwan troops to take joint actions with the US forces should a war break out in the Strait."

Washington has been Taiwan's major arms supplier despite switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979