+
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we may on the strength of this argument show a little more
flexibility over indirect sales than we allow ourselves where the
end-user is the Taiwan navy.
7. FBM Marine: Protector 33 Fast Patrol Boats
This proposal, for the sale of 33m (92 tonne) patrol boats,
offers several alternative routes of supply. These boats are
clearly suitable for the stated purpose. No-one could sensibly
argue that 33m patrol boats are in the same league as frigates, the
proposed sale of which caused problems for the French in 1989.
Nevertheless, the case is not sufficiently clear-cut to be sure that
a direct sale would escape PRC protest. There is, however, a case
to be made for adopting option (iii) (manufacture under licence in
the US by Marinette Marine, Wisconsin) as an acceptable compromise,
even though the licensing agreement does not appear to fill our
usual requirements for an overtly military sale, since the US
company has built boats only for the US Army and for Taiwan. The
licensing agreement would provide some degree of cover for the UK
involvement, in addition to which we should insist that there should
be no publicity to link the boats to a UK supplier. Provided that
we also stipulate that no weapons systems should be included in the
technology transfer, we should be able to argue, if challenged, that
the boats are clearly intended for marine police work by a
non-military agency, the necessity of which must be clear to the
PRC, and not for defence purposes. I recommend that we
application on these conditions.
8.
A + P Appledore: Peacock Class Patrol Boats
approve the
This application differs from the previous example in
significant ways. First, 60m (660 tonne) boats are much more
substantial than 33m boats. As the brochure shows, they can carry
significantly heavier armament. We could not plausibly argue that
these boats are of negligible military significance, since they were
designed for use by the Royal Navy in Hong Kong. Second, the
proposed collaboration with the French shipyard offers little if any
cover and the product is recognisably of British origin. We would
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/be