American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt said yesterday that the US understands Taiwan’s wish to buy advanced F-16C/D fighters and is evaluating the request.
Burghardt was quoted in a statement released by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) after the two men met at Wang’s office. He made the remark in response to questions from Wang as to when the US government would approve the sale of F-16C/D fighter jets, the statement said.
The AIT chairman was quoted as saying the US government has yet to reach a final decision on Taiwan’s request to buy 66 F-16C/D fighters, but it would like to help the nation upgrade the F-16A/B fighters it sold to Taiwan in 1992 to extend their lifespan.
Wang later told reporters that the US was “giving the matter serious thought” and that he was optimistic that the sale would eventually be approved.
Asked by reporters outside Wang’s office about Washington’s position on Taiwan and China’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), Burghardt said that “it’s up to Taiwan to decide.”
Burghardt arrived in Taipei on Wednesday for a six-day visit. He is scheduled to meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) today to discuss the proposed ECFA, which the government hopes to sign with Beijing this month.
He discussed the proposed pact with Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) at the Presidential Office yesterday. Siew told Burghardt that once an ECFA is signed, Taiwan’s economic strategic status will be better positioned and foreign investment will increase, helping Taiwan play a more critical role in the regional economy.
Burghardt said the purpose of his visit was to brief people here on the US-China strategic and economic dialogue that began on May 24 in Beijing.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2