US President Barack Obama will announce his decision on whether to sell advanced F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan no later than Oct. 1. His administration is expected to deliver a long awaited report on Taiwan’s airpower to the US Congress at the same time.
US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond--Chambers said that while he welcomed the commitment to make a decision, he felt that the timing of the announcement signaled that the administration would not sell the 66 new F-16C/Ds that Taiwan desperately needs.
“The timing of the planned decision — prior to Oct. 1 — suggests that the Obama administration has no intention of moving forward with the new F-16 C/D buy,” he said. “The decision is sandwiched between [US] Vice President [Joseph] Biden’s trip to China in August and [Chinese] President Hu [Jintao’s (胡錦濤)] trip to Hawaii in November. Xi Jinping (習近平), Hu’s expected successor, will also visit the US in the winter.”
“It doesn’t seem plausible that the Obama administration would stand up for Taiwan policy in the face of two such senior visits from China,” he said.
News that a decision deadline had been set came from US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who had been negotiating with Senator John Cornyn to lift his block on the US Senate confirmation of Bill Burns to be her new deputy. Cornyn had threatened to maintain the hold on Burns’ confirmation until the Obama administration accepted Taiwan’s “Letter of Request” to buy the new F-16s and delivered the Taiwan airpower report which is expected to emphasize the need for the fighters.
Clinton informed Cornyn by telephone this week while she was in India that the report would be delivered and a decision on the sale announced by Oct. 1. On that basis, the senator lifted his hold on Burns’ confirmation.
Congressional sources agree with Hammond-Chambers that it now seems unlikely Obama will sell the F-16C/Ds, choosing instead to offer to upgrade Taiwan’s aging F-16A/Bs. While the upgrades will anger Beijing, the reaction is not expected to be anything like as severe as it would be to a sale of new F-16C/Ds.
The congressional sources — senior staff members — said they suspected Obama was bowing to Chinese pressure despite his promise not to give special consideration to Chinese sensitivities when making the decision.
“While the US-Taiwan Business Council welcomes the Obama administration’s commitment to finally make a decision, we suspect that the outcome simply reiterates decisions already made, and therefore fails to address Taiwan’s central need — new combat aircraft to meet the growing threat from China,” Hammond-Chambers said.
In addition, the F-16 A/B -upgrade has been in the US system for over a year, and a decision was made in 2010 to proceed with this program,” -Hammond-Chambers said “It is not a new commitment.”
Hammond-Chambers said the Taiwan Airpower Report was intended to inform Congress about Taiwan’s defense needs and it was originally scheduled for March 1 last year.
“It is now fully 18-plus months late and it will be delivered on the same day that a decision on the F-16s is made. This negates the original intent of the report — to inform congressional debate prior to a decision,” he said.
“I urge the administration — at all levels — to support the sale of new F-16 C/Ds to Taiwan and to protect more than 87,000 jobs connected to the program,” he said. “At a time when America needs every job it can generate, this sale will mean more than US$17 billion to the US economy. Meanwhile, it would also protect peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he added.
Reached by the Taipei Times for comment in Taipei, American Institute in Taiwan spokesperson Christopher Kavanagh said: “We continue to evaluate Taiwan’s defense needs. No decisions have been made on potential arms sales to Taiwan.”
Meanwhile, Director-General of the Department of North American Affairs Bruce Linghu (令狐榮達) said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not been informed by the US of the reported decisions.
The ministry welcomed any decisions by the US that help enhance Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, he added.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai