Taiwan takes delivery of the last two of four US destroyers

Taipei - The last two of the four Kidd-class destroyers Taiwan has bought from the US arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday and will join the Taiwan Navy next week. The two destroyers, coded Tsoying and Makung, sailed into the Su'ao Naval Base and were greeted by thousands of navy officers and soldiers. President Chen Shui-bian will preside over a commissioning ceremony for the two vessels on November 1, according to press reports. The destroyers are part of a 610-billion-Taiwan-dollar (18.2- billion-US-dollar) arms sale approved in 2001 by US President George Bush. The sale includes six PAC-3 anti-missile systems, eight diesel submarines and 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircrafts. Taiwan took delivery of the first two Kidd-class destroyers and commissioned them last December. The US handed the last two Kidd-class destroyers to Taiwan in August after they had conducted Standard II missile firing tests off San Diego. The 9,600-ton Kidd-class destroyer can sail at 32 nautical miles per hour. Its radar has a search range of 400 kilometres, while its anti-aircraft missiles have a range of 150 kilometres. Although the Kidd-class destroyers have boosted Taiwan's defences, Taiwan faces a growing military threat from China - one of the largest military powers in the world. China has 50 submarines - including eight Russian-made diesel- electric subs - compared to Taiwan's four. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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