Air Force General Headquarters issued a press statement yesterday denying a media report which said the US was going to deliver 200 air-to-air missiles to Taiwan earlier than scheduled because of escalating tensions with China.
The press release said the delivery of the 200 AIM-120 missiles, which the US sold Taiwan two years ago, would go as originally scheduled, while declining to specify the timing of the delivery.
"The acquisition of the US mid-range air-to-air missiles has been proceeding according to plan,'' according to the statement.
The air force issued the statement in response to a report in a Chinese-language newspaper. That report had said the commander-in-chief of the air force, Li Tien-yu (李天羽), admitted that the US had decided to speed up the delivery of the missiles in view of the rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) has obligated the US to provide Taiwan with essential defensive hardware to secure the country from attacks by China.
Tensions across the Strait have been on the rise following President Chen Shui-bian's (
Meanwhile, the press briefing also said unstable weather conditions forecasted for the Hsinchu area prompted the cancelations of a display by planes slated to take place at the Hsinchu air force base today.
The air force was trying to dispel media speculations that the recent accident in an air show in Ukraine as well as the rising tension across the Strait were what caused the air force to scrap the flying display.
* The 200 air-to-air AIM120 missiles sold to Taiwan two years ago will be delivered according to plan.
* Bad weather, not cross-strait tensions, was behind the cancelation of the air show at the Hsinchu air force base.
* Several bases will be open to the public on Aug. 14, Air Force Day.
In related news, to mark Air Force Day on Aug. 14, the Air Force General Headquarters has decided to open various air force bases around the country to the public.
The bases slated to be opened to the public include those in Tainan, Taitung, Kanshan, along with the ones in Hsinchu and Ching Chuan Kang.
The Air Force General Headquarters stressed that Taichung's Ching Chuan Kang base will be open to the public as scheduled on Aug. 11, adding that a display of various planes such as the IDF and the French-made Mirage will proceed if weather conditions permit.
RSS