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US senators petition
for F-16 sale
SHOW OF SUPPORT: Forty-five out of the 100
senators across party lines signed a letter urging the sale, despite Chinese
claims that support for the TRA was in decline
By William Lowther / Staff Reporter in Washington
Close to half the members of the US Senate have signed a letter to US President
Barack Obama urging him to sell F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan.
Obama has been putting off a decision on Taipei¡¦s request to buy 66 of the
advanced fighters for more than a year now and the letter is thought likely to
push the issue onto the front burner.
Washington sources said the US Department of State was against the sale because
it risked badly damaging already fragile relations with China, while the US
Department of Defense is in favor because Taiwan¡¦s military is in dire need of a
boost.
US Senator Robert Menendez unveiled the letter at a congressional hearing on
Thursday on US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke¡¦s (Àd®a½÷) nomination as US
ambassador to China.
In all, 45 of the 100 senators signed the letter in a bipartisan show of force.
Menendez said he was ¡§extremely concerned¡¨ that China¡¦s military buildup would
leave Taiwan ¡§in a position that is, I think, indefensible at the end of the
day.¡¨
¡§And to me that will only exacerbate the situation,¡¨ he said.
Menendez asked Locke to support the sale of the F-16s and said it was ¡§very
rare¡¨ for so many senators across party lines to sign such a letter.
Locke said that no decision had been made on the sale, but that the US ¡§stands
with Taiwan to ensure that it can defend itself and that its self-defense
capabilities are never eroded.¡¨
The letter, organized by Menendez and Senator James Inhofe, was sent directly to
Obama at the White House.
¡§We are writing to express serious concern about the military imbalance in the
Taiwan Strait. To maintain peace and stability in the Strait, it is critical
that your administration accept Taiwan¡¦s Letter of Request and move quickly to
notify Congress of the sale of the 66 F-16C/D aircraft that Taiwan needs in
order to modernize its air force,¡¨ it says. ¡§Taiwan desperately needs new
tactical fighter aircraft.¡¨
¡§We are deeply concerned that further delay of the decision to sell F-16s to
Taiwan could result in closure of the F-16 production line, and urge you to
expedite this export process before the line closes. Without new fighter
aircraft and upgrades to its existing fleet of F-16s, Taiwan will be dangerously
exposed to Chinese military threats, aggression and provocation, which pose
significant national security implications for the US,¡¨ the letter says.
The letter says Taiwanese pilots flying Taiwanese fighter aircraft manufactured
in the US represented no offensive threat to China.
US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond--Chambers said: ¡§The Obama
administration has just hosted PLA [People¡¦s Liberation Army] Chief of [General]
Staff Chen Bingde (³¯¬±¼w), who made several unsubstantiated claims concerning
Taiwan during his visit ¡X including that some on Capitol Hill are considering
reviewing the need for the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).¡¨
Hammond-Chambers said the letter clearly showed the US Congress remained firmly
in support of the TRA and of its requirement to provide Taiwan with arms for its
own self-defense.
¡§China and its leaders are making a concerted effort to redefine and downgrade
the security relationship between the US and Taiwan as established in the TRA,¡¨
he said.
¡§This effort is taking the form of direct statements such as those by General
Chen and it is being bolstered by sympathetic voices in America¡¦s retired
military community and in US academia,¡¨ -Hammond-Chambers said.
¡§Yet by elevating the issue, China has now made this issue about America¡¦s
commitment to Northeast Asian security and about US willingness to make the
difficult decisions ¡X in the face of Chinese opposition ¡X that promote our
interests as well as those of our friends and allies,¡¨ he said.
Along with Menendez and Inhofe, other prominent signatories included Jim Webb,
Joseph Lieberman, John D Rockefeller IV and John McCain.
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