A recent White House promise to “seriously consider” selling -F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan could upset US-China security negotiations this week, the Washington-based The Hill newspaper reported.
“The administration’s shift on Taiwan could prompt Beijing to pull its support for a number of key security initiatives being pursued by the US,” it said.
It quoted former senior China analyst at the CIA Chris Johnson as saying the possible sale of fighters had “real potential to sour the tenor of the discussions.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are conducting high-level economic and security talks with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing.
Johnson said the F-16C/D issue could “throw a wrench” into the ability to move forward on pressing issues concerning North Korea, Syria and Iran.
After weeks of intense negotiation, China has backed a Syria peace plan proposed by US-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
“But Beijing could theoretically pull its support for the plan in protest of any proposed arms sales to Taiwan,” said the article, written by senior political staff members and published on its Web site.
Beijing’s relations with Iran will “almost assuredly” grow stronger if the US does end up selling fighters to Taiwan, it said.
It said the possible sale of fighter aircraft to Taiwan was an example of the administration of US President Barack Obama taking a harder line against China’s growing influence.
“It was also considered a savvy piece of political maneuvering by Obama, who is looking to counter presumptive GOP [Republican] presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s criticism of the administration’s record on China,” the newspaper said.
Patrick Cronin, a specialist on Asian-Pacific security at the Center for a New American Security, said the White House might have been prompted to make a policy shift on Taiwan by “recent reports claiming Beijing supplied North Korea with critical weapons technology.”
Cronin said the technology was used by Pyongyang to build new mobile missile launchers.
Earlier this week, former American Institute in Taiwan director Douglas Paal said during an interview with a Washington radio station that the White House letter concerning the F-16s “bears the marks of not being fully professionally prepared.”
The White House letter was delivered to Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn last week and promised the president would give new serious consideration to selling F-16C/Ds to Taiwan.
Paal said the letter was “causing ripples” both on Capitol Hill and in the policy community.
“But it’s out there and it’s the statement of the president now, and so, therefore, we have to live with it and find a way to get through these upcoming talks this week without having it blow up over the sense that China has core interests in Taiwan that we are transgressing,” Paal 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
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
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as