'No new US jets for Taiwan'

(Global Times)

11:06, August 16, 2011

A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft returns to the fight after receiving fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission over Iraq June 10, 2008. (Photo: Wikipedia.org)
The US has reportedly turned down a request from Taiwan for advanced fighter jets and offered an upgrade of the island's current fleet instead, although analysts warned that either deal would do great harm to Sino-US ties.

A US Department of Defense delegation in Taiwan last week told local officials that they would not provide them with the new F-16C/D fighter jets, despite requests made by the island since 2007, the US-based Defense News reported Sunday.

Instead, the US side intended to offer an upgrade package for Taiwan's aging F-16 A/Bs.

"We are so disappointed in the US," a Taiwan official told the journal, attributing the failure of the deal to pressure from Beijing.

"We have been in frequent contact with the US government. The last time we heard from them, they were not sure when the sale will be approved, or even if they will be approved," Luo Shou-he, a spokesman of Taiwan's "defense ministry," told Reuters, adding that the island is in urgent need of the new jets.

Washington had previously promised to make a decision by October 1 on whether to approve the sale of 66 F-16C/D jets to Taiwan.

According to the Defense News, the proposed $4.2 billion upgrade package would make the 146 Taiwanese F-16A/Bs among the most capable variants of the aircraft.

The new gear would include an AESA radar, likely either Northrop Grumman's Scalable Agile Beam Radar or the Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar, it said.

"The types of upgrades they are talking about would make them the most advanced F-16s in the world. This is a significant upgrade, and I am sure a lot of that work will go to Taiwanese companies. In that regard, it may be a better deal," Richard Bitzinger, a senior fellow and regional defense expert at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told Reuters.
US arms sales to Taiwan have been a thorny issue in Beijing-Washington ties.

Military exchanges between Beijing and Washington were suspended in 2010 after the US approved a $6.4 billion arms deal with Taiwan. 

The ties started to recover at the beginning of this year following a slew of high-level visits, including President Hu Jintao's trip to the US. 

US Vice President Joe Biden is set to arrive in Beijing tomorrow for an official visit at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

Media reports suggested that Biden will likely exchange views with Chinese officials on a string of hot issues, including the US debt crisis and arms sales to Taiwan. 

Peng Guangqian, a military strategist, told the Global Times that although the arms sales have not been finalized, the action would not be accepted by China as it is a great violation of China's sovereignty and is an interference in its domestic affairs.

"Whether the US upgrades the F-16A/B or sells the F-16C/D is not important. The action itself cannot be accepted," Peng said. 

Gu Guoliang, director of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the US has never kept its promise made in the three Sino-US joint communiqués to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan.

As part of the three joint communiqués, signed on August 17, 1982, the US government promised that it would not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, and that it would gradually reduce them and reach a final resolution with China. 

"The US government has never really followed the agreement, which is approaching its 29th anniversary. They made their decision based only on their internal or political demands, regardless of China's feelings, and Washington would not give up the chance to use the issue as a tool to restrain Beijing," Gu said.

"US President Barack Obama should be vigilant in making the decision as the deal could bring the relationship back to a low point, which the US cannot afford given the latest US debt crisis," Gu told the Global Times. 

As the largest creditor of the US, China has put about two-thirds of its $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves into US debts and other US assets, Reuters reported.

The downgrading of the US debt by Standard & Poor's has sparked criticism from China, with media reports saying the debt crisis reflected US military overreach abroad and urging China to use its financial leverage to clamp down on US arms sales to Taiwan. 

Liu Linlin and Reuters contributed to this story
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