The US Department of State has approved two potential sales to Taiwan of F-16 parts and related equipment worth a total of US$300 million, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday.
The deals would represent the 14th arms sale to Taiwan since US President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
In two press releases, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the packages would include standard (US$220 million) and non-standard (US$80 million) spare and repair parts, components, consumables and accessories for F-16 aircraft, as well as other technical and logistics support services.
Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP
The proposed sales would “improve [Taiwan’s] ability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of [Taiwan’s] fleet of F-16 aircraft,” the agency said.
They would also help improve the security of the nation and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region, it said.
The agency said it had notified the US Congress of the potential sales.
The approval does not indicate that a contract for the equipment has been signed.
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that the sales would help maintain Taiwan’s combat capabilities as the Chinese Communist Party continues to suppress Taiwan’s air and maritime training space and response time through “gray zone” tactics, restricting the nation’s right to self defense.
The ministry urged China to cease “all irrational actions” against Taiwan, saying that stability in the Strait requires the joint efforts of both sides.
Asked about Biden’s repeated remarks about defending Taiwan and his administration’s approval of arms sales, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said the remarks show the importance of Taiwan.
The nation needs to enhance its self-defense capabilities, he said.
“Judging from Biden’s past remarks, we can see the importance of Taiwan, as well as that the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are indispensable to maintaining global peace and prosperity,” Koo said.
“Taiwan must first bolster its self-defense capabilities and become a force for deterrence by joining the US Indo-Pacific strategy. This is a crucial task of the defense ministry,” he addded.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan-US Defense Industry Symposium opened in Taipei yesterday.
There has been speculation that US defense contractors participating in the forum are to meet with defense ministry officials to talk about details of the arms sales, apart from visiting the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (漢翔航空工業).
“The forum is an event for exchange among businesses in the private sector and it has nothing to do with arms sales,” Koo said.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS