Taiwan renews bid to buy US arms

US F-16 fighter jet (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/181248.html

Taiwan has announced that it still continues its bid to buy eight submarines and 66 F-16 fighters from the United States.

"The country's position to seek (eight) diesel-powered submarines and F-16C/Ds has never changed," Taiwan's defense ministry said in a statement on Sunday, AFP reported.

"The deal is still in the US government's screening process. The ministry will keep pushing for the deal so as to meet Taiwan's self-defense demands."

Washington approved in 2001 to sell eight conventional submarines to Taiwan as part of the biggest arms package with the island since 1992.

The US has not produced conventional submarine for more than 40 years. Germany and Spain, other builders of submarines, have refused to offer their design to Taiwan, fearing the action would anger China, experts say.

Taiwan also asked for 66 F-16 fighters in 2007, a plan that has since then been stalled.

Taiwan has reportedly decided to agree with a US offer of delivering four submarines to accelerate the process of the deal.

China's Chief of General Staff Chen Bingde said last week that further US arms sales to Taiwan would hurt military relations between Beijing and Washington. He said the US cannot stop China's development using Taiwan.

Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Thomas Hou said on Thursday that most of US lawmakers have shown support for the implementation of Taiwan Relations Act, a law which obliges the US government to sell defensive weapons to Taiwan.

China stopped defense ties with the US in 2010 when Washington announced plans to sell more than $6 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan.

World military spending hits record high

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174171.html

The world's military spending has increased to a record high of $1.6 trillion in 2010, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says.

The Swedish think-tank said on Monday that the global military spending rose 1.3 percent in 2010, indicating that budget constraints caused by the worldwide financial crisis has slowed the growth of military investment, Reuters reported.

The institute also announced that the top three arms investors are the US, China and Britain, underlining that South America was the region with the largest military spending growth of 5.8 percent.

The Unites States, with extravagant military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, increased the arms investment by 2.8 percent to $698 billion -- about six times as much as China which is the world's second-biggest spender followed by Britain, France and Russia.

The head of the institute's military expenditure project, Sam Perlo-Freeman, said, “The United States has increased its military spending by 81 percent since 2001... At 4.8 percent of gross domestic product, US military spending in 2010 represents the largest economic burden outside the Middle East.”

China also increased its military expenditures by 3.8 percent in 2010 to $119 billion.

SIPRI said its figures include salaries, costs for operations, purchases of arms and equipment as well as research and development.

China 'extending military reach'

Beijing has been critical of similar reports in the past, 
saying they hurt bilateral relations [EPA]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/08/201081733121585238.html

China has increased spending on its military and expanded the reach of its military operations abroad, according to a new report from the US defence department.

The report (pdf), an annual study sent to the US congress, estimated China's military spending in 2009 at $150bn, an increase of roughly 7.5 per cent from the previous year.

Some of China's expanded military efforts have been positive, the report found.

"Some of these missions and associated capabilities have allowed the [Chinese army] to contribute to international peacekeeping efforts, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief," the report said. "[But] others appear designed to improve the [army's] ability for extended-range power projection."

Taiwan remains a particular area of focus. The Chinese army upgraded many of the more than 1,000 short-range missiles aimed across the Taiwan Strait, the report found.

"China continues to deploy many of its most advanced systems to the military regions opposite Taiwan," it said.

But China has also expanded its military operations beyond its immediate territory, like carrying out anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden.

'Dangerous Risk'

The study also said that China has an active program to build aircraft carriers, and that construction on the first one could begin later this year. It also reported that China plans to expand its fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

The report concluded that "many uncertainties remain regarding how China will use its expanding military capabilities".

Ike Skelton, the chairman of the armed services committee in the US house of representatives, called for greater transparency from the Chinese army.

The lack of communication raises "a dangerous risk that miscommunication and misperception between the US and China could lead to a miscalculation," Skelton said in a statement.

China has not yet commented on the report. But Beijing sharply criticized a similar report last year, saying it had a "baneful influence" on ties between the US and China.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries have been strained for several months: China froze military relations with the US in January after Washington announced a sale of helicopters, missiles and other military gear to Taiwan.

Despite the rapid growth, China's military spending remains just a small fraction of the US defense budget, which this year topped $660bn.

Panel calls for US Navy expansion

US Navy warships, file photo


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=136845§ionid=3510203


A congressionally mandated defense panel in the US says the Pentagon should increase the number of people serving in the navy to deal with rising Asian powers.

The statement came in a report headed by former White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and former Defense Secretary William Perry on Thursday, urging the expansion of US naval power in Asia from its current fleet of 282 ships to 346 ships, the Washington Times reported.

The independent panel has also called for the US military to confront "the rise of new global great powers in Asia," adding that it must prepare for the "continued struggle for power in the Persian Gulf and the greater Middle East."

"In order to preserve US interests, the United States will need to retain the ability to transit freely the areas of the Western Pacific for security and economic reasons," the Washington Times quoted the panel as saying.

The recommendation for a bigger navy goes against the policies of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, who maintains that US naval forces are currently unrivaled.

After reviewing the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review strategy, the panel has also recommended that the US merge its military, intelligence and foreign assistance spending budgets.

According to the panel, the latest QDR is a "wartime" review, which "continues the trend of the last 15 years," and is prepared by a department that is focused "understandably and appropriately on responding to the threats America now faces and winning the wars in which the US is now engaged."

China suspends military ties with US

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117442&sectionid=351020404

China suspends military exchanges with the US and threatens to impose sanctions on US arms companies over a Washington decision to sell weapons to Taiwan.

China's Defense Ministry suspended military exchange visits with the US, saying the suspension was "in consideration of the serious harm and impacts [of the 6.4-billion-dollar US-Taiwan arms deal] on Sino-US military relations."

Chinese Foreign Ministry also threatened to impose sanctions on US firms that sell weapons to Taiwan amid straining relations between Washington and Beijing.

"China will also impose corresponding sanctions on US companies that engage in weapons sales to Taiwan," the ministry said on Saturday.

"The United States must be responsible for the serious repercussions if it does not immediately reverse the mistaken decision to sell Taiwan weapons," Chinese deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei told the US ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman.

The arms sale includes Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, mine hunter ships and information technology.

US Congress has 30 days to comment before the plan goes forward. Lawmakers traditionally have supported such sales.

Saturday's measure is the second such suspension, since the former Bush administration in 2008 announced a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan.

Relations between the two countries have been strained as President Barack Obama plans to meet with the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, later this year.

More complications could affect President Hu Jintao's expected visit to the US this year, as well as talks on human rights that Obama and Hu had agreed to continue, a Press TV correspondent reported.

China warns US about arms sales to Taiwan

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115690&sectionid=351020404

China has objected to the US plans to sell missile equipment to Taiwan, urging Washington to abandon the move as it would undermine trust between the US and Chinese militaries.

"The US arms sales to Taiwan infringe upon China's security interest[s] as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and interfere with China's internal affairs," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement on Saturday.

The reaction follows the US Defense Department's approval of the sale of Patriot missile equipment to Taiwan despite opposition to the move by China.

The Pentagon in October 2008 notified Congress of $6.5bn in arms sales to Taiwan.

The deal will allow weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. to sell Taiwan over 250 advanced Patriot missiles.

Taiwan estimates that China has up to 1,500 missiles aimed at the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its own.

The latest Chinese Foreign Ministry statement came hours after China's Defense Ministry issued a separate warning that it reserved the right to take unspecified further action if Washington followed through with the plan.

"The US side clings obstinately to the Bush administration's plan of arms sales to Taiwan, which severely undermines the mutual trust between the two militaries," said Defense Ministry Spokesman Huang Xueping in an official statement.

He added that China urges the United States "to sever military links with Taiwan, in order to avoid further damaging relations between the two countries and the two militaries and the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."