The administration of US President Donald Trump has informally told the US Congress that it supports a potential sale of F-16 jets to Taiwan, drawing a pre-emptive warning from China at a critical moment in trade talks with the US.
The US Department of State has informally told key US House of Representatives and US Senate committees that it supports the US$8 billion sale of 66 F-16s, according to two congressional aides with knowledge of the decision.
On Friday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) told reporters that “the US arms sales to Taiwan severely violate the ‘one China’ principle.”
The Chinese government was urging the US to “refrain” from selling the “fighter jets to Taiwan and stop arms sales to and military contact with Taiwan. Otherwise, the Chinese side will surely make strong reactions, and the US will have to bear all the consequences,” she said.
Last month, Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi (王毅) warned the US not to “send a wrong signal to separatist forces in Taiwan, don’t repeat mistakes and don’t play with fire on Taiwan-related issues.”
Trump on Thursday said he planned to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “soon.”
Even with congressional support, it would be years before any of the Lockheed Martin Corp jets are delivered, assuming Taiwan signs an actual contract.
It was unclear whether the Trump administration’s support for the sale would be used as a bargaining chip in the still-fluid trade talks with the Chinese government or whether it represents additional support for a government long seen as a bulwark against Chinese expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.
The US has not sold advanced fighter jets since then-US president George H.W. Bush announced the sale of 150 F-16s to Taiwan in 1992.
The administration of former US president Barack Obama rejected a similar Taiwanese request for new jets, agreeing in 2011 to upgrade its existing fleet.
Normally, the informal 30-day notification process to Congress that started on Thursday night would be followed by a formal, publicly released notification to congressional committees that lawmakers have another 30 days to approve or disapprove.
However, the formal notification is likely to occur sooner, a US official said.
After that it could take months or years before Taiwan and the US actually sign a contract and possibly years after that before deliveries begin.
The “Block 70” F-16s offered for sale are common to those sold to other US allies.
However, the Taiwanese F-16s would be equipped with top-line fire control radar made by Northrop Grumman Corp that would allow precision-guided munitions to be fired at greater distances, an official familiar with the details said.
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