The PRC also has had successes in high-technology weapons development. These include completed development and manufacture of Luhai class destroyers and Jiangwei escort vessels, continued development of J-10 and FC-1 fighters, production of the multiple-warhead DF-5 missile and the DF-13 strategic missile, and development of a long-range guided missile.
Foreign and domestic sourcing
Chung Chien says that because the two countries are so different, there's no way to accurately compare their domestic weapons-making capability. Although in the past the mainland aimed to achieve 100% domestic production in weapons, and even to export weapons, given current levels of technology, the PRC, like Taiwan, faces the problem of a low domestic content rate in key weapons systems.
Ou Si-fu, an associate researcher at the Institute for National Policy Research, says that both sides of the Taiwan Strait must rely on foreign technology in high-tech weapons manufacturing. For example, for the ROC's Indigenous Defense Fighter, 60% of the necessary parts must be imported. In particular, manufacturing technology for that most vital component, the engine, must still be supplied by the US.
For the PRC, in its current joint production of the SU-27 with Russia, mainland China will eventually do, at most, only the last 70% of the production process. The most important initial technology for the aircraft's manufacture, such as the AL-31F engine, has not been transferred by Russia to the PRC; this is because Russia does not want to lose its technological edge over the PRC.
While foreign technology is for the moment irreplaceable, Taiwan and mainland China have both met considerable difficulties in purchasing high-technology weapons abroad. It is true that, as Chung Chien says, the restructuring of the military on the two sides is a simple generational evolution given considerations of the changing global strategic environment, and is not an arms race per se. However, given that arms sellers (those countries with a leading edge in technology) have their own interests to consider, the ROC and PRC must, in purchasing high-tech weapons, take into account the political, strategic, and economic situations in the arms-selling countries. In this respect, Taiwan, whose diplomatic space is restricted by PRC pressure, finds arms purchases particularly difficult.
Though the United States remains Taiwan's main outside source of arms, due to domestic and diplomatic considerations, the US policy on weapons sales to Taiwan is subject to frequent change. Meanwhile, France and Holland, being less directly subject to PRC political pressure and due to economic considerations in their home countries, have sold small numbers of fighter aircraft and submarines (respectively) to Taiwan, but they are unlikely to be long-term sources.
Lin Cheng-yi, a research fellow at the Institute of European and American Studies of the Academia Sinica, explains: "Even though the US continues arms sales to Taiwan, the supply of major weapons systems will certainly decline. . . . For example, it will become increasingly difficult to purchase high-tech weaponry like F-16 fighters or submarines. Under these circumstances, it becomes even more important to integrate and raise the overall operational capability of current weapons systems."
Dutch-made submarines （lower left）, Taiwan-manufactured Chingkuo indigenous defense fighters （right.
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