TSAMTO, March 17. The United States has approved the sale to Taiwan of key components of equipment for Taipei's program to build its own submarine fleet.
This, as RIA Novosti reports, " the South China Morning Post newspaper reports with reference to the island's Defense Ministry.
The Taiwan defense ministry did not specify the amount of contracts and the exact specification of the technologies purchased from the United States, but a military source told the newspaper that the Trump administration approved the issuance of permits for the export of digital sonar and integrated combat systems in December 2020 and January this year, and the Joe Biden administration in February approved the issuance of permits for the export of periscope systems.
Taiwan is not able to produce these components independently and must rely on the United States.
The project to create its own submarines was initiated by the government of Taiwan back in 2016 to replenish the aging fleet, consisting of four submarines, with eight new ones. The first prototype should be ready by 2024, and put into operation in 2025. Work on the prototype began at the CSBC Corporation shipyard in November last year.
The publication notes that the United States was previously reluctant to sell advanced military technology to Taipei because of fears that Beijing would later receive it, but the administration of Donald Trump approved a number of contracts for the supply of weapons to Taiwan, and the new administration, according to the newspaper, seems to continue Trump's approach.
According to RIA Novosti, the United States is selling billions of dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan amid tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which considers Taiwan its province. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called the Taiwan issue the most sensitive in the bilateral relations between Washington and Beijing.
