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U.S. Senators urge Donald Trump to sell F-35 to Taiwan to deter China
After years of military modernisation, China shows the ability to wage war against Taiwan for the first time since the 1950s, they said.
Two top American senators have urged President Donald Trump to sell F-35 fighter jet to Taiwan so that the small island nation can defend itself from China.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen is believed to have requested the purchase of the F-35B vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft to bolster Taiwan’s air defence.
“Taiwan has a legitimate requirement to field a modern fighter fleet to address a myriad of defence contingencies. Therefore, Taiwan is requesting U.S. support in their procurement of the F-35B,” Senators James M. Inhofe and John Cornyn wrote in a letter to Mr. Trump.
After years of military modernisation, China shows the ability to wage war against Taiwan for the first time since the 1950s, they said.
These fighters will have a positive impact on Taiwan’s self-defence and would act as a necessary deterrent to China’s aggressive military posture across the Asia-Pacific region, the senators said.
“The survivability of the F-35B and modern long-range sensors could help Taiwan intercept Chinese missiles, promoting deterrence well into the next decade. The F-35B would not only provide a modern fifth-generation fighter, but would also bolster their capabilities in next-generation warfare,” the letter said.
However, if determined that release of the F-35B to Taiwan is premature, the two Senators hoped that Mr. Trump will instead make available additional F-16Vs to address the “quantitative and qualitative challenges confronting Taiwan’s fighter fleet”.
Taiwan already fields the F-16, and this would represent a cost-effective solution to Taiwan’s legitimate defence requirement for additional fighters, they said.
“If Taiwan’s air defence fleet is allowed to degenerate in number and quality, I am concerned that it would be destabilising and would encourage Chinese aggression to ensue. Additionally, I am concerned that Taiwan’s military weakness and the inability to mount a credible air force would place an undue burden on forward-deployed U.S. forces in North East Asia,” the letter said.
In 1993, the U.S. sold Taiwan 150 F-16s to bolster its air defence, ensuring that Taiwan pilots flew U.S.-made fighters to defend Taiwan’s sovereign airspace.
“Those F-16s have been the backbone of Taiwan’s air force for over 20 years,” the senators wrote.
Taiwan currently has approximately 144 F-16 fighters in its inventory; 15 are in the U.S. for training, and an additional 24 will be offline on a rolling basis in their ongoing upgrade programme that runs through 2023.
“At a reasonable operational rate, Taiwan is likely able to field only 65 F-16s at any given time in defense of the island. In my opinion, this is not enough to maintain a credible defense,” Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Inhofe wrote.
