FILE PHOTO – Flags of Taiwan and U.S. are placed for a meeting between U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce speaks and with Su Chia-chyuan, President of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
April 7, 2018
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration has approved the marketing license required for American manufacturers to sell technology to Taiwan that would allow for building domestic submarines, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported on Saturday.
The news agency said Taiwan Ministry of National Defense Chen Chung-chi confirmed that the U.S. Department of State had agreed to grant the license needed to sell the technology to Taiwan that it would need to build its own submarine.
The U.S. State Department declined to confirm the details of the news report.
A State Department official said the agency continued to review Taiwan’s defense needs and referred questions about specific procurement plans to Taiwanese authorities.
“Our longstanding policy on defense sales to Taiwan has been consistent across seven different U.S. administrations,” the official said. “This policy has contributed to the security of Taiwan and also supported the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Phil Stewart and Mike Stone; Writing by Dustin Volz)
