Members of the US Congress are again pushing US President Barack Obama to put the sale of F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan back on the front political burner.
The move comes as Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平) completed a highly publicized visit to the US and as Obama’s re--election campaign gets underway.
The US president is under attack from opposition Republicans for not being tough enough on China and for failing to create enough new jobs in the current moribund economy.
Leading US Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has accused Obama of kowtowing to Xi and of failing to look after US economic interests.
In a move that was widely interpreted as backing down to pressure from Beijing, Obama refused to sell 66 F-16C/Ds to Taiwan in September last year and agreed only to update the nation’s aging F-16A/B fleet.
Under heavy congressional pressure, White House aides said the future sale of F-16C/Ds to Taiwan had not been ruled out and was still under consideration.
Against this background, Republican US Senator John Cornyn announced on Friday that he was putting on hold the nomination of Mark Lippert as assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security affairs until the Obama administration comes up with a plan to address what he called “Taiwan’s looming fighter shortfall.”
Cornyn is strongly in favor of selling the advanced F-16s to -Taiwan, in part because they are built in Fort Worth, Texas, and the order would preserve hundreds of jobs in his home state.
The hold on Lippert’s nomination will be embarrassing for the White House and US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Jim Miller has quickly responded to Cornyn’s action by saying that the F-16 upgrade package offered to Taiwan “effectively meets Taiwan’s current needs.”
Cornyn is expected to reject that argument this week and begin gathering support in the Senate.
At the same time, Republican US Representative Kenny Marchant, also from Texas, has introduced a statement into the Congressional Record saying: “It is important that the F-16 deal for Taiwan not be further delayed.”
He said that without the Taiwan order the F-16 production line would soon close, badly damaging the North Texas economy.
Formosan Association for Public Affairs president Mark Kao (高龍榮) said that while the sale of the F-16s was tabled last year, Congress and the general public needed to be reminded that the military imbalance in the Taiwan Strait had grown significantly worse amid a continued Chinese military buildup.
“There is an urgent need to counteract this worrying trend,” Kao said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS