A close ally of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on Monday he expects the US will agree only to upgrade the nation’s existing fleet of F-16 jets and not sell Taipei new ones.
Deputy Legislative Speaker Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said Taiwan has been grateful for US support for decades, but a decision against providing F-16C/D aircraft would “not be satisfactory.”
Two US senators who share that view introduced legislation on Monday demanding US President Barack Obama authorize sales of at least 66 of the F-16C/Ds to Taiwan.
By supplying the planes, the US would anger Beijing and would set back Washington’s efforts to improve its own relations with China.
The US Department of State has said the US would make its decision by Oct. 1.
Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the US is legally required to provide Taiwan with arms for its self-defense.
While Tseng said he was not aware a formal decision on the planes had been conveyed to Taiwan, he said through an interpreter: “Based upon the current situation, it seems that the US is only going to upgrade the F-16A/B air fighters. Speaking for the legislature, this is not satisfactory.”
“These weapons are not going to be used for war. It’s purely based on the purpose of national defense,” he said.
Later, sources close to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation being led by Tseng, said he had no special knowledge of the proposed sale and that Ma had not yet been informed of the Obama administration’s final decision.
Taiwan first sought the F-16 C/D planes in 2006 — intended to replace its aging fleet of F-5 planes it now uses principally for training. Its current fleet of 145 F-16A/Bs, the main fighter planes now in its armory, was supplied by the US in the 1990s. Both the sales of new planes and the upgrades would be worth billions of dollars.
Tseng is leading a delegation from the KMT that is scheduled to meet US officials and lawmakers. They are also rallying support for Ma among the substantial Taiwanese population in the US ahead of his re-election bid in January.
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