|
¡@
US still mulling sale of F-16C/Ds:
defense ministry
By Rich Chang / STAFF REPORTER
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said the US was still evaluating the
possibility of selling Taiwan F-16C/D fighter aircraft amid suspicions that
Washington had rejected the arms procurement request.
During a Foreign and National Defense Committee meeting at the legislature,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (ªL§¤è) asked Minister of
National Defense Kao Hua-chu (°ªµØ¬W) to share his views on remarks by American
Institute in Taiwan Director William Stanton in an interview with a local
newspaper that Washington and Taipei were divided over the question of selling
the advanced aircraft to Taiwan.
WHOSE OPINION?
¡§Does Stanton¡¦s remark mean that the US opposes selling F-16C/Ds to Taiwan? Is
this the decision of the executive branch of the US government and was the
message delivered through Stanton, or was it simply Stanton¡¦s personal point of
view?¡¨ Lin asked.
Kao said that information obtained by the ministry showed the US was still
evaluating the arms procurement request, adding that the ministry¡¦s policy was
to continue seeking the arms sale.
UPGRADE OR PURCHASE?
Lin then asked whether Washington would be more amenable to upgrading Taiwan¡¦s
existing fleet of older-generation F-16A/B jets than to selling it the F-16C/D
jets.
Kao said that while both projects were significant to Taiwan¡¦s air defense
capabilities, selling Taiwan new fighter aircraft raised a number of
difficulties in US-China relations and as a result the US was still evaluating
the procurement request.
Military experts have called on the US government to move quickly on the sale of
F-16C/Ds to Taiwan, as the production line for the model may be closed in 2013.
¡@
|
