President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday reiterated his call on the US to sell F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan during a meeting with American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt and emphasized the importance of maintaining a balance of military strength across the Taiwan Strait.
The procurement of weapons conforms to the Taiwan Relations Act, Ma said, adding that the fighter aircraft would replace an aging fleet and would only be used for defensive purposes.
“The defense budget failed to reach 3 percent of GDP, but that budget is still more than the budget for last year ... The government will continue efforts to make sure the budget for national defense meets demands,” Ma said at the Presidential Office.
Photo: CNA
According to official figures, the defense budget last year was NT$297.4 billion (US$9.3 billion), compared with NT$297.2 billion this year. However, when asked for clarification, the Presidential Office told the Taipei Times that once subsidies for veterans’ housing and other expenditures not directly related to defense were factored in, the total budget for this year was NT$374.8 billion.
Burghardt, who arrived in Taipei on Sunday for a five-day visit, remained noncommittal on the 66 F-16C/Ds requested by Taipei and said he “didn’t come this time with any kind of special message from Washington.”
In his meeting with Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday, Burghardt said that arms sales to Taiwan would continue, while describing the fighter aircraft sale as “an old subject.”
Ma, who said Washington has remained unwilling to accept a letter of request for the F-16C/Ds, thanked the US for releasing two arms procurement packages in 2008 and last year — both leftovers from former US president George W. Bush’s administration — to help Taiwan maintain its necessary defense capabilities.
Ma also thanked the US for assisting in Taiwan’s plan to join the International Civil Aviation Organization, saying air travel was becoming increasingly important now that the number of weekly cross-strait flights has increased from 370 to 558.
He also pointed to what he referred to as achievements in improving cross-strait relations and said the two sides would address issues such as investment protection, a dispute-resolution mechanism and nuclear security in cross-strait negotiations later this year.
Commenting on January’s presidential and legislative elections, Burghardt said the AIT congratulated Taiwan for its success in developing a real democracy and said that the US remained neutral on Taiwan’s elections.
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
RSS