<div><p>TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan has effectively dropped a request for U.S. submarines to help shore up the balance of power with political rival China, a military source said on Tuesday, dissolving what could be a new rift in tense Sino-U.S. ties.</p><p>Defense officials on the island that has fallen behind in the military balance of power with China had agreed with Washington in 2008 to a study on upgrading Taiwan's aging submarine fleet but will stop pushing the item to keep peace with Beijing, said a source close to the Defense ministry in Taipei.</p><p>"Taiwan isn't asking for the submarines anymore," the source told Reuters. "The biggest consideration was the warming of relations with mainland China."</p><p>China has blasted the United States over a planned $6.4-billion arms package for Taiwan, saying it would place sanctions on U.S. firms that sell weapons to the island.</p><p>The package would include Patriot missiles and Black Hawk transport helicopters, also part of the 2008 agreement.</p><p>Taiwan still hopes to get advanced U.S.-made F-16 jets though, to boost its existing fleet to deal with China's growing numbers of Russian-designed Su-30 and Su-27 fighters.</p><p>A submarine sale would further ignite Beijing's anger toward Washington and could turn it against Taiwan, which has avoided China's wrath over the recent arms proposal.</p><p>Taiwan has sought peace with China since Beijing-friendly island President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008, brokering a series of trade and tourism deals.</p><p>China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to the island. Beijing has threatened to attack if Taiwan declares formal independence.</p><p>Taiwan's navy includes four submarines, two of which date from World War Two and are now used only for training, according to GlobalSecurity.org.</p><p>China has more than 60 submarines, some capable of carrying nuclear ballistic missiles.</p><p>"My guess is that the submarine issue is sunk, never to surface again," said Ralph Cossa, president of the U.S. think tank Pacific Forum CSIS.</p><p>(Reporting by Ralph Jennings; Editing by Ben Blanchard)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=68768944&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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