Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

US F-18s land in Taiwan

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • US F-18s land in Taiwan

    Didn't see this posted anywhere.

    Safety the reason for F-18 landing in Taiwan: US military

    CNA 2015-04-03 16:50 (GMT+8)

    A US military spokesperson said Thursday that the reason for landing two F-18 fighters in Taiwan was based on proximity and weather conditions, downplaying speculation that the landing was a "political message to China."

    "The reason for selecting Taiwan as a landing site was based on proximity and weather conducive to landing," said Major Paul L. Greenberg, a public affairs officer for the US Marine Corps. He said that safety is always a top priority in a flight operation.

    "Our pilots have the responsibility for diverting their aircraft to the nearest approved airfield if they experience an in-flight condition which they deem unsafe," he said. "This is done in order to protect the pilots, crew and the aircraft."

    His remarks came in response to an April 1 report in the Washington Times that said the emergency landing of the two US Marine Corps F-18 fighters in Taiwan "appears to have been a political message from the Pentagon to Beijing following a recent Chinese bomber drill near the island nation that is a key rival to Beijing's rule."

    In the report, military analyst Rick Fisher was quoted as saying that the aircraft could have made a landing at a less-controversial location such as the Japanese airfield on Shimoji island, which is 120 miles east of Taiwan.

    The landing for the two F-18s at an air base in Taiwan, "while perhaps unintended, does give China a significant signal of US resolve, two days after China used its new H-6K nuclear cruise missile bomber in exercises intended to signal a threat to US forces on Guam," said Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center.

    Another analyst Michael Swaine, however, held a different view. It was unlikely that a political message was involved in the incident, he said.

    The Pentagon is a professional military agency and when an aircraft encounters a mechanical problem, the safety of the crew and the aircraft is the top concern for choosing a landing location, said Swaine, a senior associate at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a specialist in US-China relations and East Asian international relations.

    The F-18s landed at Tainan Air Force Base on Wednesday due to "a persistent engine oil pressure warning light" in one of the aircraft, said Greenberg. The other fighter landed in order to maintain section integrity, he added.

    The F-18s, which were from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323 (VMFA-323), were en route to Singapore to participate in Commando Sling, which is an air-to-air exercise with Singapore, after taking off from Japan, according to Greenberg.

    One day after the emergency landing, US personnel arrived in Taiwan Thursday evening on board a C-130 to repair the mechanical problem on the F-18 fighter.

    The F-18s will depart Taiwan as soon as the repairs are completed and the aircraft passes the necessary safety tests, a Taiwanese Air Force official said.

    The landing was a rarity because the United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and its military aircraft do not use air bases in Taiwan.

    China views democratic Taiwan with its 23 million people as a renegade province, to be taken by force if necessary, and objects any military interaction between the island and the United States.
    Safety the reason for F-18 landing in Taiwan: US military

    You guys should see the conspiracy theories flying all over the place in Taiwan.
    "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

  • #2
    Just listen to Swaine. I read Fisher primarily for the sources he talks to (you should see the stupid sh*t J. Michale Cole, our favorite underemployed ex CSIS officer, is sprouting off about this on the Diplomat).

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by gunnut View Post
      You guys should see the conspiracy theories flying all over the place in Taiwan.
      Well, enlighten us! And is there are general mood in Taiwan for or against this?
      “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by TopHatter View Post
        Well, enlighten us! And is there are general mood in Taiwan for or against this?
        Basically the theorists are trying to justify the landing as a political stunt rather than a true mechanical malfunction. They cite the selection of Tainan AFB over the proximity to Kadena, proximity to Clark, proximity to Japanese air fields, and even other strips in Taiwan, as proof that this is a military exercise in disguise with political motive behind the scenes.

        The mood is generally favorable. Remember, 1/3 of Taiwan is for independence, 1/3 for status quo, 1/3 for unification. The independence faction likes this because it shows US resolve to defend Taiwan. The unification faction "could" be for this because the "unification" should happen under Nationalist rule rather than Communist rule. The status quo faction could be the only ones against this because it upsets the good relationship built up over the last 2 decades with China.
        "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

        Comment


        • #5
          It's also a good way to get page views and circulation numbers up (never let logic and actual operational practice get in the way of a good story).

          Comment


          • #6
            "The mood is generally favorable. Remember, 1/3 of Taiwan is for independence, 1/3 for status quo, 1/3 for unification."

            That's a bit off. Support for status quo is approaching 1/2 while unification is dropping to less than 1/10 according to the latest poll by Yuanjian Polling. The same poll also interrogates respondents a hypothetical, ideally desired cross-straight situation in the future and it breaks a number of ways, but the strongest consensus is 60% are against unification.
            Last edited by Triple C; 06 Apr 15,, 10:29.
            All those who are merciful with the cruel will come to be cruel to the merciful.
            -Talmud Kohelet Rabbah, 7:16.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Triple C View Post
              "The mood is generally favorable. Remember, 1/3 of Taiwan is for independence, 1/3 for status quo, 1/3 for unification."

              That's a bit off. Support for status quo is approaching 1/2 while unification is dropping to less than 1/10 according to the latest poll by Yuanjian Polling. The same poll also interrogates respondents a hypothetical, ideally desired cross-straight situation in the future and it breaks a number of ways, but the strongest consensus is 60% are against unification.
              What if we change the "reunification party" from communists to nationalists?
              "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

              Comment


              • #8
                Dunno. The question isn't asked; although the favorability rating of the nationalist isn't high atm, change it to the legitimate ROC government doing the unifying conceivably will give unification a decent boost. Wonder THAT ever came up in negotiations! :D
                All those who are merciful with the cruel will come to be cruel to the merciful.
                -Talmud Kohelet Rabbah, 7:16.

                Comment

                Working...
                X