A US professor is urging US President Barack Obama to make a deal with Beijing over the sale of advanced F-16 fighter planes to Taiwan.
“The warplanes should be used as bargaining chips,” said Missouri State University political science professor Dennis Hickey in an article published this week in the Los Angeles Times.
The article appeared on the eve of Obama’s departure on a four-nation tour of Asia, beginning yesterday, that will include two days in China and incorporate direct talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) that are certain to touch on US arms sales to Taiwan.
While the official agenda may be dominated by efforts to resolve the global financial crisis, climate change and nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Hickey said that most analysts agree that Beijing’s primary concern would be Washington’s continued military support of Taiwan.
In particular, the Chinese are known to strongly oppose Taiwan’s request for 66 upgraded F-16 fighters.
“Obama should not bow to Chinese pressure and scuttle the idea of F-16 sales,” Hickey wrote.
He said that the administration ought to explore the possibility of agreeing to a deal similar to that proposed by former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) to former US president George W. Bush in 2002.
“The US should agree not to sell advanced fighters to Taiwan in exchange for the removal of the 1,500 ballistic missiles that China has deployed directly opposite Taiwan,” he said.
“Such an initiative could yield numerous dividends,” Hickey said.
He said that Beijing would seriously consider the proposal because it would generate goodwill in Taiwan.
It would also provide Taipei with tangible evidence that its policy of cooperation and conciliation with China is working.
“The current leaders would be able to more easily move forward with other measures aimed at rapprochement and enhance their prospects for re-election,” the professor said.
He pointed out that US officials have long emphasized that arms sales to Taiwan can serve as a stabilizing factor in East Asian affairs.
But in this instance, he said, the sale of high-profile F-16s would jeopardize relations with Beijing, undermine core US interests and help spark an arms race across the Taiwan Strait.
Hickey concluded: “If Washington uses the prospect of dropping such sales as a bargaining chip to persuade China to remove the missiles, it would help reduce cross-strait tensions, pave the way for closer Sino-American relations and promote peace and stability in the western Pacific.”
“The choice should be obvious,” Hickey said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS