U.S. to build 8 subs in deal with Taiwan

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The United States plans to build eight diesel-electric submarines for Taiwan as part of an $18 billion arms package, a decision likely to irritate China, which has opposed the sale of weapons to Taipei.

Taiwan's new representative to the United States, David Tawei Lee, said yesterday that the submarines would be built "probably in Mississippi, in [former Senate Majority Leader] Trent Lott's state."

Such a decision would end years of speculation about who would build the submarines, which had been promised to Taiwan in 2001.

The United States no longer builds diesel submarines, and other nations that do -- notably Germany and the Netherlands -- were not willing to take the risk of angering China.

"The Americans will have to start from scratch," said Mr. Lee, adding that the shipyard -- most likely Ingalls in Pascagoula -- would have to purchase the blueprints abroad.

Taiwan's legislature had been expected to vote in October to approve the $18 billion arms purchase from the United States, but Mr. Lee said the deal has become a guns vs. butter debate as lawmakers gear up for legislative elections in December.

"This has become a political issue, an election issue," Mr. Lee said at a luncheon with editors and reporters from The Washington Times at Taiwan's Twin Oaks estate in Northwest Washington.

Mr. Lee said the vote may be put off until after the elections in Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China.

A State Department official said yesterday that the Pentagon has been looking for a way to "make the submarines available" to Taiwan, but that he did not know whether a decision had been made.

President Bush, shortly after taking office in 2001, broke away from previous administrations and cleared the way for the sale of the submarines as part of a larger weapons deal.