In Taiwan, security analysts said the weapons mark an important step in righting the balance of power between Taiwan and China. It marks the biggest potential U.S. arms sale to Taiwan since the early 1990s. But she wouldn't say whether China will retaliate for the U.S. arms package for Taiwan, which Beijing claims as a breakaway province.
China reserves the complete right to take further actions.
In Washington, President Bush said Tuesday that the U.S. government will discontinue arms sales to Taiwan on an annual basis. This year, the administration set aside a sensitive decision on Taiwan's request for destroyers equipped with the sophisticated Aegis battle management system, which would greatly advance Taiwan's capabilities to defend against a Chinese missile attack, officials said. Security analysts in Taiwan said that Washington's willingness to include submarines and the P-3 warplanes in the package would move Taiwan's navy toward parity with China's naval forces. Strained relations U.S.-Chinese relations are already under strains in the aftermath of the April 1 collision of a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter off China's southern coast, which left the Chinese pilot missing and presumed dead. China demanded an apology and detained the U.S. air crew for 11 days after the U.S. plane was forced to make an emergency landing on China's Hainan island.