A letter signed by 181 members of the US Congress was sent to the White House on Monday urging US President Barack Obama to sell advanced F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan.
Obama has promised to make a decision on the sale by Oct. 1 and there is growing concern that he is being influenced by China’s strong opposition.
The letter came as a hearing on Taiwan policy — before the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs — was suddenly canceled when Congress decided to adjourn for summer recess following a controversial vote to raise the federal debt limit.
That hearing, at which US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Kurt Campbell and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Derek Mitchell are due to testify, is now likely to be held in the middle of next month.
Both Campbell and Mitchell are expected to face sharp criticism over the way the Obama administration appears to have consulted Beijing about the requested arms sale.
Under former US president Ronald Reagan’s so-called “Six Assurances,” the US pledged not to consult China about arms sales decisions.
“In order to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, we believe it is critical for the US to sell the government of Taiwan all the F-16C/D [aircraft] it requires,” the congressional letter to Obama said. “We respectfully request that your administration move quickly to announce its support for such a sale and submit the required Congressional Notification for a sale as soon as possible.”
The letter said that China has more than 1,400 missiles aimed at Taiwan and continues to add to this total, deploying next--generation technology.
“Military experts both in Taiwan and in the US have raised alarms that Taiwan is losing its qualitative advantage in defensive arms that have long served as a primary military deterrent,” the letter said.
Within the next decade, the letter added, Taiwan will retire 70 percent of its jet fighter force and without new fighter aircraft and upgrades to its existing fleet of F-16s, Taiwan’s situation could become “quite precarious.”
The members of Congress said they were “deeply concerned” that delays in the decision on the sale of F-16s could result in a closure of the F-16 assembly line, making future deliveries impossible.
“In addition to enhancing Taiwan’s security, approval of the sale would support thousands of American jobs — especially well-paying jobs in the manufacturing sector,” the letter added.
While there can now be no doubt of major congressional support for the F-16 sale, that support may not have a great impact on Obama.
He is more likely to be influenced by advice from his National Security Council and the US Department of State.
A blog published on the Wall Street Journal Web site on Monday reported that “influential figures” had publicly called for the US to pull away from Taiwan to foster “increasingly key relations” with China.
It said that military exchanges between the US and China had been cut off by Beijing in the past when the US sold weapons to Taiwan.
“Analysts say the planes are vital for Taiwan as it seeks to replenish its aging fleet of fighters. But China seems to be drawing a line in the sand, with analysts saying Beijing would be more willing to accept a long-delayed upgrade to Taiwan’s older F-16A/Bs than sales of new F-16C/Ds,” the blog said. “Due to the timing of the October 1 decision, which falls between two high-level US-China diplomatic exchanges and on China’s National Day, most do not think the US will accept Taiwan’s request for the new planes.”
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
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
‘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
RSS