The administration of US President Barack Obama came under new pressure on Thursday to sell advanced F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan.
While Obama has refused to sell the fighters as part of an arms package announced last month, the White House has said that a sale is still under consideration.
That consideration is likely to be boosted by a new report from Stephen Fuller, an economist at George Mason University in Virginia.
Fuller concludes that the US economy is at risk of losing more than 1 million jobs and US$1 trillion in economic investment in the aerospace sector as a result of projected defense budget cuts.
In a statement issued on Thursday night, US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert -Hammond-Chambers said: “The impending financial tsunami to hit the defense and aerospace sector comes at a time when the Taiwan government seeks to procure 66 -replacement F-16C/D fighters for its aging fighter fleet — a purchase that would result in a gross investment of almost nine billion dollars.”
He said the investment would support more than 16,000 jobs.
In contrast to the “dire consequences” of the defense budget cuts, Hammond-Chambers said, a sale of F-16C/Ds to Taiwan would have a positive economic impact throughout the US.
“Should the Taiwan sale fail to materialize, however, current orders would only sustain the F-16 production line for another two years,” he said. “The closing of the F-16 production line would simply add further job losses to the sector, impacting the US states already hit hard by the proposed budget cuts.”
With Obama up for re-election next year and polls indicating that he is in political trouble as a result of the poor economy, he could be increasingly sensitive to the F-16 situation.
“There is already a strong strategic case in favor of releasing new F-16s to Taiwan. US economic security would also be well served by the sale,” Hammond-Chambers said. “Yet the Obama administration has not moved forward on this issue due to concerns over China’s sensitivities.”
“The US-Taiwan Business Council believes that the US government should be evaluating the F-16C/D sale based on the needs of Taiwan and on its significant beneficial impact on the US economy, not on China’s foreign policy priorities,” he said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
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