The government’s defense policy has come under fire from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which called it a failure and said the cross-strait balance of power has already tipped in China’s favor.
DPP Spokesman Lin Yu-chang’s (林右昌) comments came two days after the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) published a report on Taiwan’s air defense capabilities that said that Taiwan’s Air Force aircraft were in various stages of disrepair and questioned Taiwan’s ability to defend itself.
Speaking with reporters yesterday morning, Lin said Taiwan’s defense capabilities has not kept up with technological advances by the People’s Liberation Army.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) published an article yesterday that quoted International Assessment and Strategy Center vice president Richard Fisher, a specialist on the Chinese military, as saying that Taiwan should focus on procuring offensive weapons. At present, the US government is only required to provide Taiwan with military hardware of a defensive nature as prescribed by the Taiwan Relations Act.
Lin said the DPP’s military policy was that any conflict between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait be resolved away from Taiwan. He said that to ensure Taiwan’s security, the government should not be limiting itself to buying defensive hardware exclusively.
Lin also cast doubt on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) resolve to push for the purchase of 66 advanced F-16C/D fighter jets that were not included in a US$6.4 billion arms sale package announced by US President Barack Obama last month. He said the Ma administration has been overly reluctant to antagonize China, which any arms deals was sure to do.
In related news, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) urged Washington on Tuesday to decide as soon as possible whether to sell F-16C/D fighters to Taiwan, saying that although it has agreed to continue arms sales, it should not ignore Taiwan’s self defense requirements.
Lu made the remarks during a visit to Washington, where she met several US officials from the Department of State and the American Institute in Taiwan, as well as pro-Taiwan members of Congress.
She said that US Congressional Taiwan Caucus Co-Chair Lincoln Diaz-Balart had promised to seek the endorsement of other members of Congress to pressure the administration into making a decision on the F-16s as soon as possible.
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