The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said the US was still evaluating the possibility of selling Taiwan F-16C/D fighter aircraft amid suspicions that Washington had rejected the arms procurement request.
During a Foreign and National Defense Committee meeting at the legislature, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) asked Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) to share his views on remarks by American Institute in Taiwan Director William Stanton in an interview with a local newspaper that Washington and Taipei were divided over the question of selling the advanced aircraft to Taiwan.
WHOSE OPINION?
“Does Stanton’s remark mean that the US opposes selling F-16C/Ds to Taiwan? Is this the decision of the executive branch of the US government and was the message delivered through Stanton, or was it simply Stanton’s personal point of view?” Lin asked.
Kao said that information obtained by the ministry showed the US was still evaluating the arms procurement request, adding that the ministry’s policy was to continue seeking the arms sale.
UPGRADE OR PURCHASE?
Lin then asked whether Washington would be more amenable to upgrading Taiwan’s existing fleet of older-generation F-16A/B jets than to selling it the F-16C/D jets.
Kao said that while both projects were significant to Taiwan’s air defense capabilities, selling Taiwan new fighter aircraft raised a number of difficulties in US-China relations and as a result the US was still evaluating the procurement request.
Military experts have called on the US government to move quickly on the sale of F-16C/Ds to Taiwan, as the production line for the model may be closed in 2013.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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