No Subject

[nobody@REPLAY.COM (Anonymous)]

This came from Associated Press (27th Feb) :

============================================================================

Europe pushes Asian weapons sales

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Russia is doing it. So are Britain, France,
Germany and Spain. Even neutral Sweden has joined the race to sell
warplanes, missiles, tanks and warships for Asia's rapidly expanding
arsenals.

The Europeans, fighting an uphill battle against dominant U.S. competitors,
are offering what the Americans sometimes won't - the newest, deadliest
technology with no political strings attached.

While post-Cold War budget cutting devastated the arms trade in the rest of
the world, military spending in Asia is still rising.

>From 1991 to 1994, Asian sales by Britain, France, Germany and Italy
totaled $3.4 billion - a 30% increase over their sales in the 1987-1990
period, according to figures compiled by economist Digby Waller of the
International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.

By contrast, American weapons sales in the region were $5.4 billion in
1991-1994, a 7% decline from the previous three-year period.

Despite widespread agreement that U.S. weapons makers are technologically
superior, European producers have signed a flurry of deals with nearly
every Asian country.

According to military analysts, buyers were attracted by Europe's lower
prices, equipment - like submarines - that the United States doesn't sell
and - perhaps most important - the chance to avoid becoming dependent on
American suppliers in case the United States cuts back future arms exports.

In one of the most powerful signs of the Asian market's allure, Russia
tossed out ideological considerations in favor of cash, selling its former
Chinese rivals high-performance Sukhoi 27 jet fighters and the technology
to make more.

Thailand bought an aircraft carrier from Spain. Taiwan bought six frigates
and 50 fighter jets from France. South Korea bought three German cruisers
and Malaysia bought two British frigates.

Sweden sold diesel-electric submarines to Thailand and Singapore. The
United States no longer manufactures such vessels, partly in an attempt to
halt their proliferation. Such submarines are very quiet and almost
impossible to detect, even with sophisticated equipment.

Some military analysts argue the unprecedented weapons buildup will ignite
an arms race in a region crisscrossed by territorial disputes. They point
to the growing military might of Japan, China and India and a series of
smoldering regional disputes, including those between Taiwan and China and
between North and South Korea.

Asian governments counter that they're entitled to defend their territory.

"It is wrong to see the purchase of defense equipment by countries in the
region as an arms race,'' Singapore's defense minister, Tony Tan, said in a
TV interview in January.

"We and our ... neighbors are proceeding with plans to modernize our armed
forces, now that our economies have grown and we have the resources to pay
for better weapons and equipment.''

The biggest potential source of conflict in the region is China's feud with
its Southeast Asian neighbors over oil and gas riches in the South China
Sea. China has declared the entire region its territory, and sent warships
to enforce the claim.

While European governments try not to fuel arms races, they may sell to
buyers who are refused American weapons for political reasons, said Paul
Beaver, a military analyst for Jane's Information Group.

Beaver pointed to the example of Britain's $35 billion deal to supply
Tornado fighters and other weapons to Saudi Arabia after the United States
balked at selling warplanes that could be used to attack Israel.

"That has been seen by the Muslim countries in Southeast Asia as a strong
sign that Britain doesn't attach the same political conditions to its sales
as the United States does,'' he said in a telephone interview from London.

Thailand wants to buy advanced American AMRAAM missiles to arm its new F-18
fighters. But because no other country in the region has a missile that
sophisticated, the Clinton administration is hesitating for fear of
sparking competition among Thailand's neighbors to match it.

"If the United States did not want to sell AMRAAM missiles to Thailand, I
wouldn't be surprised if France would be willing to sell a similar
missile,'' said Pieter Wezeman, a researcher for the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute.

Asian governments also appear to be buying European weapons to diversify
their arsenals in case Washington shuts off their supply.

"The United States has shown several times that they don't want to sell
weapons to everyone, and so at any moment they might start an embargo,''
Wezeman said.

In one of the region's biggest recent sales, Taiwan bought 210 fighter
jets, splitting the order between French Mirage-2000s and U.S.-made F-16s
after Washington first refused to sell and then approved fewer planes than
Taiwan wanted.

Pakistan, blocked by U.S. law from buying F-16s because of evidence it has
built nuclear weapons, is reported to be shopping for French or Russian
warplanes to fill the gap.

By The Associated Press

=============================================================================

no_one@unimportant.