The government yesterday thanked the US after it approved the sale of up to US$428 million of spare parts to replenish stocks for military aircraft and support air defenses.
The package is to help the air force maintain aircraft combat readiness in the face of Beijing’s gray-zone tactics, which include sending warplanes into the nation’s air defense identification zone, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.
It also exemplified Washington’s commitment to ensure that Taiwan has the capability to defend itself, as stated in the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances,” the ministry said, expressing its “sincere gratitude” for the deal.
Photo: AFP
The sales are likely to be formally confirmed by the US Congress in one month, it said.
The statement came after the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Tuesday announced two arms sales to Taiwan, one for standard spare parts, and another for non-standard spare parts and related equipment worth US$330 million and US$98 million respectively.
The two packages are meant to replenish “spare parts, consumables and accessories,” and provide “repair and replacement support for the F-16, C-130, Indigenous Defense Fighter, and all other aircraft and systems or subsystems of US origin, as well as other related elements of logistics and program support,” the US agency said.
The proposed sales are meant to “contribute to the sustainment of the recipient’s aerial fleet, enhancing its ability to meet current and future threats while providing defensive and transport capabilities critical to regional security,” it said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a separate statement that the package was Washington’s seventh such deal under US President Joe Biden, which “fully demonstrated the US government’s high regard for Taiwan’s defense capabilities.”
Amid increasing Chinese aggression, Taiwan would continue to improve its defensive capabilities and, through close security cooperation with the US, maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait and contribute to the long-term peace, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
Meanwhile, a defense official yesterday confirmed the early delivery of AGM-88 high-speed anti-radiation missiles purchased from the US in 2017.
The 50 missiles originally set for delivery next year “are already in Taiwan,” Department of Strategic Planning head Lee Shi-chiang (李世強) said at the legislature in Taipei.
Asked whether they are the updated AGM-88E model with an extended range of up to 150km, Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Huang Chih-wei (黃志偉) said he could not comment on specifics.
The missiles are “slightly better than those currently used by the US military,” Huang said.
An additional 250 shoulder-fired Stinger missiles are also set for delivery this year, with another 250 planned for 2025, Lee said, adding that the US has promised to deliver the full 500 on or ahead of schedule.
However, delivery of TOW 2B anti-tank missiles has been delayed from their scheduled arrival this quarter, Lee said.
Delivery is to begin next year and would be completed in 2024 at the latest, he said.
A Javelin missile purchase is proceeding according to schedule, Lee said.
The only other delay involves AGM-154C joint standoff weapons for the air force, which are to arrive in 2025 or 2026 instead of next year, Lee said.
‘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