TAIPEI, Taiwan, Oct. 4 -- Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou on Saturday welcomed U.S. plans to sell the island almost $6.5 billion in weaponry in a move that appeared to repair years of frayed ties between Taiwan and the Bush administration.
The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a press release Friday that it had notified Congress about the sale, which marks Taiwan's first purchase of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, a surface-to-air guided missile air defense system.
"We think this announcement from the U.S. government is a sign that the past eight years of discord are over," Ma said in a statement. "This symbolizes the start of a new era of security, peace and mutual trust between Taiwan and the U.S."
The sale serves as a reminder that the Taiwan Strait remains one of Asia's potential flashpoints. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province with no right to its own sovereign government and has threatened to invade in response to any moves toward independence. The United States, under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, has pledged to help Taiwan defend itself against any unprovoked Chinese attack.
The weapons sale, which also includes Apache helicopters and Harpoon missiles, comes as Taiwanese negotiators are working behind the scenes with China to arrange a visit by Chen Yunlin, the head of China's semi-official negotiating agency to Taiwan, at the end of October or in November. Chen would be the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Taiwan since the Nationalists relocated to the island in 1949.
Ma, who was elected in March on a platform of détente with China, said Saturday that he still wants to develop cross-strait ties, and analysts said the sale was unlikely to derail Chen's visit.
George Tsai, a political scientist at Taipei's Chinese Culture University, said China would probably be angered by the deal but that it had become used to U.S. arms sales. "I think they understand the realities," Tsai said of the Chinese. "I don't think this will upset Chen Yunlin's visit."
The package was originally proposed by the U.S. government in 2001. But lawmakers from Ma's Nationalist party, who then were in the opposition, refused to approve procurement budgets for several years, arguing the purchase was too costly.
After Taiwan finally approved the funding, senior U.S. officials placed a de facto freeze on Taiwanese arms sales for almost a year, observers said, partially because they were irritated by the wrangling and because they needed China's help in resolving international issues, such as persuading North Korea to relinquish nuclear weapons.
Since coming to power, Nationalist officials, including Ma, have worked at improving relations with the United States.
A Taiwanese defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Taiwan would continue to lobby for two items omitted from the package announced Friday -- a feasibility study to build diesel electric submarines and 60 Black Hawk utility helicopters. Taiwan will also push the United States to sell it about 60 F-16 C/D fighters, the official said.
Andrew Yang, a military analyst with the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, said the items may have been excluded as a U.S concession to China.
Yang said the sale, which the U.S. Congress must still approve, was largely symbolic because China has more than 1,000 missiles pointed at the island and Taiwan's defensive capabilities remain limited.
"Taiwan cannot ward off Beijing's all-out strike," Yang said. "The sale is symbolic, showing the U.S. is committed to helping Taiwan defend itself."
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