A US senator on Tuesday said that if US President Barack Obama’s administration refuses to sell Taiwan the 66 F-16C/D aircraft it is requesting, he would push to have Congress approve the sale instead.
Republican Senator John Cornyn, who made the remarks after visiting Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth aircraft assembly plant in his home state of Texas, said Taiwan needed the aircraft to deter China.
“Congress has traditionally delegated this authority to the president, but it can pass legislation allowing this sale to take place,” Cornyn told the Star-Telegram.
“There’s significant support in Congress for providing our allies [Taiwan] with these planes, and I believe, under the Taiwan Relations Act, we’re obligated to do so,” he was quoted as saying.
Cornyn said an amendment to the defense authorization bill to approve Taiwan’s request could be introduced in October or November.
The amendment would require approval by Congress and Obama could still exercise his veto powers to prevent the sale, but this would mean scuttling approval of a wide variety of defense programs, he said.
Forty-five senators and 181 members of the US House of Representatives have signed letters urging Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to release the aircraft.
Earlier this year, Cornyn held up the confirmation of William Burns as US deputy secretary of state, resulting in a compromise by Clinton, who said the US would announce its final decision on Oct. 1.
Beijing has characterized the sale of F-16C/Ds to Taiwan as a “red line” and threatened retaliation, including severing military-to-military ties, if the US allowed it to go through.
So far the US has not officially accepted Taiwan’s request for the F-16C/Ds, with reports saying that the US Department of State had instructed Taiwan’s representative office in Washington not to submit a “Letter of Request.”
Although the Pentagon and the Ministry of National Defense maintain that the deal is not dead, recent reports claim Washington is likely only to approve an upgrade program for Taiwan’s aging F-16A/B fleet.
Washington’s refusal to release the more advanced F-16C/Ds would be a mistake, Cornyn said, and would “demonstrate we’ll give our allies the back of our hand” to pacify “our adversaries,” the newspaper wrote, adding that a well-armed Taiwan would take off some of the pressure on US forces involved in operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The project would only be the beginning, as Taiwan needs at least 120 satellites to ensure uninterrupted communication, Wu Tsung-tsong said The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) yesterday said it plans to launch six low Earth orbit satellites starting in 2026 as part of the government’s plan to boost the resilience of the nation’s communications. The development of the technology gained attention after Ukrainians were able to access the Internet through Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service, despite their infrastructure being severely damaged in the war with Russia. Two of the satellites would be built by the government, while four would involve cooperation between TASA and private contractors. “Over the past 30 years, the satellite technology in Taiwan has
PLAN: Nations would receive US$5m a year if they could advance Taiwan’s international participation, diversify supply chains away from China or counter Beijing’s influence The US House of Representatives Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the US and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Friday introduced a bill that would approve US$120 million to be spent on supporting Taiwan’s international space and tackling coercion by China. The bipartisan legislation — the Taiwan Allies Fund Act — was proposed ahead of the inauguration of president-elect William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on May 20. The committee said in a statement that the bill “strengthens Taiwan’s global network of friends by authorizing [US]$120 million over three years for the State Department and USAID [US Agency
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
POSSIBLE SOLUTION: The government needs to convey regulations to advertising platforms based overseas and access to the offenders could be restricted, Minister said The government is considering asking TikTok and other large digital advertising platforms to have agents based in Taiwan in accordance with the draft act on the prevention and control of fraud and crime, which is scheduled to be reviewed at an Executive Yuan meeting today, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The draft act is one of the legislative measures being introduced by the government to tackle scams, including the draft technology investigation and security act, and amendments to the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) and the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法). They are also to be reviewed