A delegation from the Taiwan-US Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association of the Legislative Yuan said on Wednesday in Washington that Taiwan wants to purchase advanced F-35 jets that best suit its defense needs.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator and association chairman Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) briefed the press in Washington after the delegation’s meeting at the Pentagon with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia David Helvey to discuss Taiwan’s needs for advanced defense weaponry.
The delegation also met with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security and Arms Transfers Gregory Kausner at the American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) Washington headquarters, Lin said.
The lawmakers said Taiwan needs more advanced fighter jets and submarines to enhance its defense, and needs to gain more international space.
Lin said Taiwan would continue to push for the purchase of F-35 jets from the US, but should also consider buying a reasonable number of F-16C/D jets to replace Taiwan’s aging F-5s, which are expected to be phased out in the next few years.
When the US agreed to upgrade Taiwan’s fleet of F-16A/B jets in September 2011, it effectively ruled out the sale of the next-generation F-35s, according to Lin.
“It would be ideal if Taiwan could purchase the new fighters, which are capable of vertical and short take-offs and landings,” Lin said. “But even if the US approves the sale, the global waiting list is so long that it would take 15 to 20 years for Taiwan’s order to be delivered.”
While in Washington, the delegation also met with members of the US Congress, including Senator Benjamin Cardin, chairman of the East Asian & Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce.
Earlier, at the UN headquarters in New York, the delegation met more than a dozen of Taiwan’s allies who are permanent representatives to the UN.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we