On Aug. 15, Lockheed Martin Corp in the US signed contracts to sell 90 F-16 warplanes, of which Taiwan is buying 66 for a total US$8 billion, while Morocco is buying the other 24.
Washington’s approval of the F-16V deal with Taiwan reveals four things.
First, the US believes that Taiwan needs to acquire new types of fighters for its air defense to be powerful enough to play its part in its multidomain deterrence strategy. Notably, the F-16Vs are equipped with high-performance AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars that can detect fifth-generation stealth aircraft, making them a formidable opponent for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
Second, the considerations and layout of the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy place Taiwan at the “core” of the Indo-Pacific region.
Furthermore, Japan and South Korea are buying F-35s while Taiwan is buying F-16Vs, and India and Singapore also have strong air defense capabilities. All in all, these Indo-Pacific countries’ air defenses are the greatest challenge for the PLAAF, and Taiwan’s F-16V fleet will play the most important deterrent role of all.
Third, ever since US President Donald Trump took office, his administration has vowed to face up to the task of boosting Taiwan’s defense capabilities and its foreign relations, as well as directly strengthening US-Taiwan relations.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar’s four-day visit to Taiwan earlier this month and the signing of the F-16V deal both show that, even though there are domestic political considerations behind everything the US does, all of its Taiwan-friendly policies are geared toward spoken or unspoken recognition of Taiwan’s role as a “quasi-ally.”
Fourth, when the F-16Vs that Taiwan has signed up to purchase enter service in the Republic of China Air Force’s fleet, they would boost the power of the air force, whose nearly 400 combat aircraft are one of the most important elements for enforcing multidomain deterrence and air defense.
As well as enabling Taiwan to safeguard airspace to the west of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, they would keep the airspace that lies to the southwest and east of Taiwan firmly within the nation’s grasp.
It is often said that “without air defense there is no national defense.” It might be a hackneyed phrase, but it is as true of the Taiwan Strait today as it has ever been.
As long as the Chinese Communist Party does not renounce the use of armed force against Taiwan, this nation’s defense will still be orientated toward arms purchases and war preparedness. Everyone in Taiwan should stand shoulder to shoulder in support of its national defense and armed forces to ensure that the PLA will not even dream of overstepping the mark.
Ray Song is a graduate of National Chung Cheng University’s Institute of Strategic and International Affairs.
Translated by Julian Clegg
On March 22, 2023, at the close of their meeting in Moscow, media microphones were allowed to record Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dictator Xi Jinping (習近平) telling Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, “Right now there are changes — the likes of which we haven’t seen for 100 years — and we are the ones driving these changes together.” Widely read as Xi’s oath to create a China-Russia-dominated world order, it can be considered a high point for the China-Russia-Iran-North Korea (CRINK) informal alliance, which also included the dictatorships of Venezuela and Cuba. China enables and assists Russia’s war against Ukraine and North Korea’s
After thousands of Taiwanese fans poured into the Tokyo Dome to cheer for Taiwan’s national team in the World Baseball Classic’s (WBC) Pool C games, an image of food and drink waste left at the stadium said to have been left by Taiwanese fans began spreading on social media. The image sparked wide debate, only later to be revealed as an artificially generated image. The image caption claimed that “Taiwanese left trash everywhere after watching the game in Tokyo Dome,” and said that one of the “three bad habits” of Taiwanese is littering. However, a reporter from a Japanese media outlet
Taiwanese pragmatism has long been praised when it comes to addressing Chinese attempts to erase Taiwan from the international stage. “Taipei” and the even more inaccurate and degrading “Chinese Taipei,” imposed titles required to participate in international events, are loathed by Taiwanese. That is why there was huge applause in Taiwan when Japanese public broadcaster NHK referred to the Taiwanese Olympic team as “Taiwan,” instead of “Chinese Taipei” during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. What is standard protocol for most nations — calling a national team by the name their country is commonly known by — is impossible for
India is not China, and many of its residents fear it never will be. It is hard to imagine a future in which the subcontinent’s manufacturing dominates the world, its foreign investment shapes nations’ destinies, and the challenge of its economic system forces the West to reshape its own policies and principles. However, that is, apparently, what the US administration fears. Speaking in New Delhi last week, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau warned that “we will not make the same mistakes with India that we did with China 20 years ago.” Although he claimed the recently agreed framework
RSS