Despite a private meeting in Taipei with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), US Democratic Senator Arlen Specter is not supporting Taiwan’s request to buy advanced F-16C/D fighter planes.
Ma’s efforts to convince Specter on the need for the aircraft would appear to have failed.
In a report to the US Senate, just published in the Congressional Record, Specter says: “It appears to me that we might consider revising our policy on the sale of arms to Taiwan where we have an irritant to mainland China that doesn’t really accomplish very much.”
“We recently have sold Taiwan some US$4.6 billion worth, which is very substantial, but if the People’s Republic of China decided to invade Taiwan, the defenses they have and their request for additional fighter planes, which has not been granted — all of that would not be sufficient to stem the tide.”
Specter met with Ma on Aug. 13 when the president argued that Taiwan needed the fighters to prevent the balance of military power across the Taiwan Strait from shifting further in China’s favor.
According to reports, Ma said the purpose of procuring the F-16s was not to provoke war but to beef up defense capability. Ma tried to persuade Specter to support Taiwan’s fighter request.
At a later meeting with US Senator Roland Burris, an Illinois Democrat, Ma said: “Our American friends can rest assured that the aircraft would be only for defense purposes and national security.”
However, in his report to Congress, Specter says: “Although the President of Taiwan was very interested in having arms sold by the United States, I pressed him on whether it was realistic, really a measure that they could defend themselves, or whether it was symbolic. I did that in the discussions with other officials in Taiwan.”
He said in his report that during a meeting with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on Aug. 16, he asked about the importance of F-16 sales to Taiwan and their “real benefit to any cross-strait conflict.”
Specter added: “I was informed that the sales are both substantive and symbolic in showing backing for Taiwan and aiding in any future cross-strait negotiations and talks. Further, Taiwan has a duty to its people to provide defense of the island.”
However, both Ma and Wang appear to have had little impact.
Specter’s report will not be welcomed by the US-Taiwan Business Council, which announced this week that it would hold the ninth annual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference from Oct. 3 to Oct. 5 in Cambridge, Maryland.
The council is a strong supporter of the F-16 sale and its conference focuses on US-Taiwan defense and military cooperation.
This year it will examine the future cross-strait threat, the Taiwanese military’s new focus on disaster rescue and relief, and asymmetric options for Taiwan’s armed forces.
“The Conference is the most important private event reviewing US-Taiwan defense and security issues each year,” council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said.
Wallace Gregson, assistant secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific security affairs, and Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, will deliver keynote speeches at the conference, a statement released by the council said, adding that a senior Taiwanese defense official will also speak.
In line with Ministry of National Defense protocol, the Taiwanese official was not named.
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