Supporters of Taiwan in the US Senate Armed Services Committee added a requirement for a presidential report on the status of the Taiwanese Air Force in next year’s National Defense Authorization Act passed on July 23, the latest edition of Defense News reported.
Defense News quoted Andrew Yang (楊念祖), secretary-general of the Taipei-based Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, as saying that the requirement would likely push for the sale of the 66 F-16C/D fighter aircraft requested by Taiwan in 2006.
The report calls for a “thorough and complete assessment of the current state of Taiwan’s Air Force” and an assessment of the ability of Taiwanese aircraft to repel a “full-scale concerted missile and air campaign by China, Defense News wrote.
“Section 1226, Report on Taiwan’s Air Force,” requires the US president to submit a report to US Congress within 90 days after the date of enactment, the report said.
The report quoted York Chen, a former official at the National Security Council, as saying that “a comprehensive assessment of the Taiwan Air Force required by the Bill is a milestone for both Taipei and Washington to consider seriously the fundamental element for Taiwan military security.”
The report must also include a five-year plan for “fulfilling the obligations of the United States under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide for Taiwan’s self-defense and aid Taiwan in maintaining control of its own air space.”
The addition of the requirement comes on the heels of a US Department of Defense report released on March 25 that concluded that because of rapid modernization of the People’s Liberation Army, the Taiwanese Air Force no longer enjoyed airspace dominance of the Taiwan Strait.
The requirement was absent from the US House of Representative’s version of the bill. However, the two bills will have to be reconciled before being sent to the White House, Defense News wrote.
Meanwhile, in related news, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday urged the US to greenlight Taiwan’s request for the procurement of F-16C/Ds.
The ministry made the remarks in response to a report recently issued by the California-based military think tank RAND Corp.
Despite the easing of political strain across the Taiwan Strait after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) came to power last year, China has not renounced a military strike against Taiwan, the report said.
If there were to be a military conflict across the Taiwan Strait between next year and 2015, China’s growing Air Force and guided missile arsenal would pose a major threat to Taiwan regardless of US intervention, the report said, suggesting that Taiwan beef up its air defense in respond to potential large-scale missile attacks from China.
“In view of the threats posed by China’s fast-growing air force, the need [for Taiwan] to procure F-16C/Ds has become an ever pressing issue in our air defense work,” a statement issued by the ministry said. “The Ministry of National Defense would like to urge the US to quicken its consent to the procurement of the item so our country could effectively respond to Chinese Communist threats and assure [our] national security.”
IF THE CHIPS ARE DOWN: The US secretary of state warned that a disruption to the supply of Taiwanese semiconductors would play havoc with the global economy If Taiwan were attacked, the global economy would face devastation, as that is where most of the world’s semiconductors are produced, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday. In an interview that aired on the 60 Minutes television program, Blinken was asked whether instability across the Taiwan Strait would be felt around the world. Blinken said that China has been increasingly aggressive against Taiwan, posing a threat to peace and stability in the region, while economically the world would feel the effects of such aggression. Blinken was interviewed for the program after meeting with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi
‘ABSURD’: UN Resolution 2758 expelled the Chiang Kai-Shek government without mentioning Taipei, something the Chinese minister did not acknowledge, Taipei said Taiwan yesterday criticized Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) for “intentionally misinterpreting” a 1971 UN resolution to misrepresent Taiwan’s status to the global community. In his address on Saturday to the UN General Assembly, Wang cited Resolution 2758 as a basis for Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China. He said that Beijing considers Taiwan an “inseparable part of China’s territory since ancient times.” “Only when China is completely reunified can there be enduring peace across the Taiwan Strait... Any move to obstruct China’s reunification is bound to be crushed by the wheels of history,” Wang said. General Assembly Resolution 2758
MORE ARRIVALS ALLOWED: Taiwan yesterday increased its cap on arrivals to 60,000 from 50,000 ahead of a full border opening with a weekly cap of 150,000 on Oct. 13 Travelers arriving in Taiwan from Oct. 13 would no longer be required to quarantine on arrival and visitors of all nationalities would be allowed to enter, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) announced yesterday. However, the number of arrivals would be capped at 150,000 per week, he added. Travelers aged two or older would be given four rapid antigen COVID-19 test kits on arrival and be asked to monitor their health for seven days, Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) told a news conference. Under the new arrival protocol, travelers would have to take a test on the day of arrival or the day after, followed
The UK is determined to work with its allies to ensure that Taiwan can defend itself, British Prime Minister Liz Truss said on Sunday, a pledge that drew expressions of gratitude from Taipei. “What I’ve been clear about is that all of our allies need to make sure Taiwan is able to defend itself, and that is very, very important,” Truss said in a CNN interview, when asked whether the UK was willing to match the US’ pledge last week to defend Taiwan militarily in the event of an attack by China. Truss said her government was working with its G7 allies,
RSS