An article published on Wednesday on Foreign Policy magazine’s Web site said Taiwan’s request to buy F-16V jets was expected to move forward this month, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said only that the request is still being reviewed by the US.
An article by Lara Seligman, “Trump’s Fighter Jet Sale to Taiwan Advances Despite China’s Protests,” cited two unidentified sources as saying that although the deal for 66 F-16 Block 70 jets has been stalled, it was expected to move forward before the US Congress begins its traditional recess next month.
The negotiations over price and configuration of the aircraft had led to the deal taking longer than expected, Seligman wrote.
However, Taiwan’s request must still be converted into a formal proposal by the US Department of Defense and Department of State, and then Congress officially notified, after which lawmakers would have 30 days to block the sale if they want, she wrote.
Seligman noted that China has long said the US selling new F-16s to Taiwan would “be a red line.”
When asked for a comment, MOFA deputy spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) only said that Taiwan and the US have maintained close contact over the deal.
The Ministry of National Defense declined to comment, while the American Institute in Taiwan reiterated that it would not comment on potential or pending arms sales or transfers before they have been formally ratified by Congress.
Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) in April told the legislature that a decision by the US on the Letter of Request (LOR) the government submitted in February could come sometime this month, as the Pentagon has to notify Congress whether it has decided to grant the sale within 150 days of receiving the LOR.
While the defense ministry has never officially confirmed what type of jets it requested from the US, only that it asked for a total of 66, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has previously made clear that the government is seeking to purchase F-16V fighters.
The F-16V or Viper is an update of the F-16 Fighting Falcon manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The F-16 Block 70/72 is the newest and most advanced F-16 production configuration, according to the company’s Web site.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
RSS