U.S. Plans to Help Taiwan Update Plane : Peking May Protest; Congress Could Reject Sale of Avionics Gear

In a move that could draw protests from Peking, the Reagan Administration today announced plans to sell Taiwan $260 million in avionics and other equipment to upgrade 32 aging anti-submarine aircraft.

If Congress does not reject the sale within 30 days, Grumman Corp. will help Taiwan modernize 32 twin-engine, propeller-driven S-2E/G aircraft. The Grumman-built planes have been in use by Taiwan for years.

The planes, first made in the early 1960s, can carry depth charges, air-to-surface missiles and machine guns.

“The sale of this equipment and support will not affect the basic military balance in the region,” the Pentagon said in a brief memorandum on the sale.

China has warned in the past that the United States could jeopardize relations between Peking and Washington if it continues to provide high-tech military hardware to Taiwan.

Peking Pact of 1982

The United States ended diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 when Washington recognized the People’s Republic of China. In 1982, the United States made a pact with Peking to stop selling offensive military equipment to Taiwan.

“They (the Chinese) could protest,” a Pentagon official told Reuters today when asked whether the sale might stir negative reaction in Peking. “But why should they? These (aircraft) are not dangerous.”

Today’s offer would be carried out through the Coordination Council for North American Affairs, which is a go-between in such deals with Taiwan.

The Administration said that no U.S. government personnel would be used in upgrading the aircraft, but that 30 representatives from Grumman Aerospace Corp. would be sent to the island for three years to assist in the project.

China’s Communist Party Chairman, Hu Yaobang, said in an interview earlier this year with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that Peking was not satisfied with Washington’s observance of the 1982 arms agreement.

‘Won’t Tolerate That’

The remarks were apparently in reference to reports that the United States was prepared to license American defense firms to provide technology and some components to Taiwan for its development of an advanced jet fighter plane.

“If the U.S. remains unfriendly over a long period of time, we will not tolerate that,” Hu was quoted as saying in his interview with Selig Harrison, a senior associate for the private American group.

The Reagan Administration has made recent offers to provide high-tech military equipment to Peking, including avionics for China’s F-5 fighters. But the White House has also been under pressure from conservatives in Congress such as Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) to continue helping Taiwan.