Taiwan will continue to negotiate with the US on the sale of F-16C/D aircraft and will carefully mull the possibility of submitting a letter of request (LoR) to acquire them, a Ministry of National Defense official said yesterday.
“[We] will take every factor into consideration and carefully devise a plan in the best interests of our country,” ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said.
However, there has been no progress in the efforts to procure the aircraft, he said.
Lo’s comments came in response to a statement by US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers that the time was right for Taiwan to again request price and availability data for the F-16C/Ds.
“This is an excellent time for Taiwan to submit a new letter of request,” Hammond-Chambers told reporters following an address to a conference on “Taiwan and Asia-Pacific Economic Integration” held on Monday by George Washington University.
He said a White House letter to Republican Senator John Cornyn released last week clearly stated that the administration of US President Barack Obama recognized that Taiwan needed the new aircraft.
“The Obama administration is telegraphing that it is now open to consider the sale of new fighters,” Hammond-Chambers said.
As a consequence, he added, Taiwan should feel confident enough to submit a letter of request.
“I can simply state that this is absolutely the right time for Taiwan to resubmit an LoR,” he said.
Hammond-Chambers said the White House letter was a “significant step forward.”
For the first time it recognized the gap in air power capabilities between Taiwan and China, and that part of the solution was the sale of new fighters, he said.
“They have never said that before,” he said.
Hammond-Chambers said that over the next few weeks he expected the House of Representatives to “pick up” the Taiwan Air Power Modernization Act proposal already introduced into the Senate by Cornyn.
The proposal is designed to “provide Taiwan with critically needed US-built multi-role fighter aircraft to strengthen its self-defense capability against the increasing military threat from China.”
However, US National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor has stressed that the letter to Cornyn is only “consistent with our current policy on Taiwan, which has not changed.”
Vietor said that the council does not comment on future possible sales “unless formal congressional notification has taken place.”
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) had previously told the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) that it could not submit an LoR for price-and-availability data for 66 F-16C/D aircraft because the US State Department and the National Security Council had given orders not to accept it.
In a classic Catch-22 scenario, the US Department of State said Taiwan’s LoR could not be processed because it had not been received.
However, this time, while the letter to Cornyn did not contain a firm promise to sell the fighters, it strongly indicated that some action would be taken, Hammond-Chambers said.
He said that there could also be speedy reaction from the US Congress.
“One of the most important aspects of Congressional support for Taiwan is how broad based it is and bipartisan,” he said. “And that’s true for the sale of the F16s. There is very strong bipartisan support for the sale, both in the Senate and the House of Representatives.”
“The US-Taiwan Business Council believes that if the Taiwan Air Power Modernization Act is given an opportunity to be voted on, it will pass,” he said.
Commenting on the issue, Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of North American Affairs, said the US and Taiwan were both “on the same page.”
“The US fully understands Taiwan’s military air power needs,” Linghu told a press briefing. “When the time is right, we will naturally get a positive response.”
Linghu reiterated that Washington is committed to arms sales to Taiwan under the terms of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and “six assurances” of 1982.
In September last year, the US approved a retrofit and training package for Taiwan’s 145 aging F-16A/B aircraft for an estimated cost of US$5.2 billion.
However, Taiwan is still eager to acquire the more advanced fighters to help address the air-power imbalance across the Taiwan Strait.
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
‘ILLEGAL RULING’: The KMT and the TPP slammed the Constitutional Court judgement, saying it contravened the law and was trying to clear the way for a ‘green dictatorship’ The Constitutional Court yesterday ruled that amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed by the Legislative Yuan last year are unconstitutional, as they contravene due legislative process and separation of powers. The Legislative Yuan on Dec. 20 last year passed amendments stipulating that no fewer than 10 grand justices must take part in deliberations of the Constitutional Court, and at least nine grand justices must agree to declare a law unconstitutional. The Executive Yuan on Jan. 2 requested that lawmakers reconsider the bill, but the Legislative Yuan, under a combined majority of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party
RSS