Bilateral meetings, visits and interaction between Taiwanese and US military personnel would continue as planned, while Taiwan would continue asking the US to deliver on its pledge to sell Taiwan diesel submarines, as well as lobbying for the sale of F-35B jets, a Ministry of National Defense official said on Wednesday night with regard to Donald Trump winning the US presidential election.
The military cooperation between Taiwan and the US is based on a mutually beneficial model that helps protect US regional interests, while boosting the overall capability of the Taiwanese military, the ministry said.
Taiwan has reason to believe that both Taiwan and the US would be able to continue their cooperation on existing groundwork, the ministry said.
Ministry sources said that Taiwan would be paying close attention to Trump’s choices for his national security adviser and secretary of defense, as military relations between the two nations would become clearer following the appointments.
As for military sales, ministry officials said that the US adheres to the promises it made to sell hardware, but as seen in the diesel submarine sale, there might be changes in the execution of their follow-through.
The administration of former US president George W. Bush in April 2001 agreed to sell Taiwan eight diesel submarines, but the planned sale has been shelved since then, in part due to Taiwanese political infighting over the purchase and what sources claim to be Chinese intervention.
Ministry officials said that with Trump as US president, there might yet be a chance for the submarine sale to go through.
In response to the rapid expansion of China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force and the tilting of the air superiority in Beijing’s favor, ministry officials said that while the nation’s fleet of F-16 jets is expected to receive upgrades well into 2020, the nation would nonetheless require next-generation fighters to balance the scales.
The government is making the purchase of F-35B jets its highest priority in Taiwan-US arms deals, as the plane has stealth capabilities and is equipped with short and vertical take-off and landing systems.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) said that Trump is not very friendly toward China regarding national defense and diplomacy and might adopt a more hostile attitude toward Beijing.
Tsai said the Trump campaign’s foreign policy advisory had recommended bolstering Taiwan-US military ties, which Tsai said would be of immense help to Taiwan’s national security and diplomacy efforts.
Taiwan Thinktank deputy executive director Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) said that despite Trump saying Asian nations should pay more for being under “US protection,” his election might bring the possibility of more arms deals.
However, Lai said that the US government is not dependent on the US president and all policy implementation would be restricted and watched by the US Congress.
We do not know whom Trump will choose for his national security team, but the Republican Party has long been a supporter of Taiwan, and we should not see great structural changes in Taiwan-US relations, Lai said.
Additional Reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan
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