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Taiwan's Plan to Buy F16C/D Suspended by U.S. President

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  • Taiwan's Plan to Buy F16C/D Suspended by U.S. President

    Taiwan's Plan to Buy F16C/D Suspended by U.S. President


    (Source: Taiwan government news; issued Oct. 2, 2006)



    TAIPEI --- Taiwan's plan to buy 66 F16C/D jet fighters from the United States has been suspended by President George W. Bush, Minister of National Defense Lee Jye said Monday.

    In a report to the Legislative Yuan's National Defense Committee, Lee said the U.S. stance is that until a long-stalled arms purchase package clears the legislature, it does not see Taiwan as having a consistent military procurement plan.

    Lee was referring to a package of six Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile batteries, a squadron of 12 anti-submarine P-3C aircraft and eight diesel-electric submarines, which has been blocked by the opposition-dominated legislature for more than two years. Lee noted that U.S. officials in charge of military purchase had promised to sell the F16C/D aircraft.

    The American Institute in Taiwan, the quasi-official organization authorized by the U.S. to handle ties with Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties, had also agreed to offer quoting price to various allies to the island for reference. However, Taiwan has received no response since late August.

    But Lee said he believes that if the three-item arms procurement project clears the legislature, the F16 fighter procurement will also be revived.

    The ministry is hoping to buy the F16C/Ds to replace the Air Force's F5E and F5F aircraft, which are being phased out over the next few years.

    According to media reports, even if Taiwan is permitted to buy the F16C/Ds, they will not be delivered until 2011. By that time, Taiwan's self-developed IDFs will have been in service for nearly 20 years and the F16A/Bs purchased from the U.S. will have been in service for more than 15 years.

    Meanwhile, the ministry's plan to buy eight to 12 SEAL delivery vehicles (SDVs) from the United Arab Emirates has been aborted, Lee said. Lee said that the purchase of the SDVs -- a type of mini submarine -- was suspended after news of the intended purchase was leaked.

    Lee denied reports that the military has asked some government agencies to pay a deposit of between US$4 million and US$5 million for the mini subs, claiming that "we haven't paid anything, not even one cent."
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

  • #2
    Odd that Dubya would make a fuss about the SSK's, seeing as how we can't deliver them anyway...
    "We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008

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    • #3
      Whats the exact deal here? I thought the US would support Taiwan to the hilt?
      Karmani Vyapurutham Dhanuhu

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Archer View Post
        Whats the exact deal here? I thought the US would support Taiwan to the hilt?
        I think the sense here is that since the Nationalists (KMT) are bent on handing the store over to the Chinese, there's little point in giving the Chinese a look at up-to-date American weaponry. This is perhaps a sign that Washington's patience over the procurement tug-of-war in Taiwan is not unlimited. If the Taiwanese will not defend themselves, we're certainly not going to risk American lives to defend them. At the moment, my feeling is that the loss of Taiwan wouldn't be such a big deal. It would be way cheaper for us to take in hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese refugees - should we feel inclined - than to fight a war with China.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Archer View Post
          Whats the exact deal here?
          guess you missed the One-China speech by Bush

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