 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Washington (AFP) Aug 25, 2010 US President Barack Obama administration says it has granted export licenses to US firms selling radar equipment to Taiwan in a move that could irk China. Beijing angrily halted military and security contacts with Washington when the United States announced in January an arms package for Taiwan that included missiles, helicopters and equipment for Taiwan's F-16 fighter jets. "We have notified congress as required under the Arms Export Control Act of proposed direct commercial sales between Taiwan and private US companies," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters on Tuesday. Crowley said, under established rules, the foreign customer like Taiwan "enters into a direct relationship with a private US company," which must apply for an export license from the State Department. "And the decision to approve these export licenses will allow the commercial export to Taiwan of defense services, technical data, and defense articles to support Taiwan's existing air defense radar system and upgrades to existing radars on Taiwan's indigenous defense fighter aircraft," Crowley said. Congress, which receives the notification from the State Department usually as a formality, publishes the sales in the Federal Register. Last week Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou renewed calls to Washington to sell the island an upgraded version of the F16 fighter, following a Pentagon report warning of China's growing military might. Taiwan applied to the US government to buy 66 F-16 fighters in early 2007, but observers say Washington has held up the deal for fear of angering Beijing. Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, said Wednesday he knew nothing of any plans for the approval of F-16 sales to Taiwan. China opposes any arms sales to Taiwan, which it considers a part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though the two sides split in 1949 after a civil war and have been governed separately since.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Space Technology News - Applications and Research
Russia works with CIS to upgrade radar Moscow (UPI) Aug 9, 2010 Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, one of the Russian Federation's biggest concerns has been to replace the Soviet Union's unified aerial radar surveillance capacities. The goal is closer because of a recent meeting of Commonwealth of Independent States in Minsk to integrate use of the Parol', or "Password," Unified System of State Radar Identification between CIS member state ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
