Four countries are interested in buying Taiwan's outdated F-5E warplanes, but Taipei needs approval from Washington to sell the jets to foreign countries, a newspaper said yesterday.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) quoting an unnamed source, said the Philippines, Mexico, Paraguay and Chile are interested.
"Taiwan used to have about 300 F-5Es, but the US keeps strict control on the weapons it has sold to foreign countries so as not to tip the regional military balance. As such, even though these F-5Es are Taiwan's property, Taiwan still needs approval from the US," the paper quoted the source as saying.
The military is still evaluating potential deals, the source added.
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday declined to comment.
The US began selling F-5Es, made by Northrop Corp, to Taiwan in 1968 to boost Taiwan's defenses against China and in 1973 licensed Taiwan to manufacture F-5Es.
Taiwan still has about 100 F-5Es, which have been either mothballed or are being used as training jets by the Air Force.
During the Cold War, F-5Es were widely used as their capabilities were comparable to those of the Soviet MiG-21. But Taiwan has little use for them now because its Air Force also has 150 F-16 A/Bs, 60 Mirage 2000-5s and 130 locally-made Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF).
The Air Force has also begun to plan for its third-generation warplanes and is seeking to buy 66 advanced Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighter aircraft to replace its aging fleet of fighter planes.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS