Taiwan wants to buy at least six US-built destroyers equipped with the advanced Aegis system to counter the perceived threat from rival China, it was reported Monday. An evaluation of the arms deal estimated to be worth up to 150 billion Taiwan dollars (4.6 billion US) has been taking place, the United Daily News quoted a "reliable" military source as saying.
"The navy's goal is to buy six destroyers with an option for two others," the source said, adding that deputy defence minister Henry Ko and Chen Yung-kang, chief of the general staff, would travel to the United States next week to discuss the deal.
Taiwan's defence ministry declined to comment on the report. The United States had previously rejected Taiwan's offer to buy Aegis-class destroyers, saying it is giving priority to the demands of the US navy and that the Taiwanese navy does not have the capability to operate such sophisticated weaponry. Washington later sold Taipei four second-hand 9,600-tonne Kidd-class destroyers, a move military analysts said could be a prelude to the island's acquisition of Aegis destroyers.
"The navy's operation of the four Kidd-class destroyers is excellent," a Taiwanese naval officer told AFP on condition of anonymity. "What's more, it indicates that the navy certainly has the ability to operate advanced warships," he said.
Taiwan's navy has said its combat capabilities will be greatly improved thanks to the four 9,600-tonne destroyers, sold to Taiwan as part of an arms package approved by US President George W. Bush in April 2002. The deal infuriated China, which opposes any arms sales to the island it considers to be part of its territory since the two split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.