Posted on 04/02/2017 7:19:11 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
U.S. mulls F-35s for Taiwan deal
8:19 pm, April 02, 2017
By Seima Oki and Yuko Mukai / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondents
WASHINGTON/ TAIPEI — The United States is considering a new package of arms sales to Taiwan, sources said.
Multiple sources close to the bilateral matter revealed that the United States would sell the weapons to Taiwan as early as this summer.
Among the weapons are cutting-edge fighter jets, which past U.S. administrations did not allow to be sold to Taiwan. The arms package could be worth the highest amount ever.
U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida on Thursday and Friday, seeking to build upon their bilateral relationship. During telephone talks with Xi in February, Trump showed a flexible stance on the “one China” policy, over which Beijing had been nervous, agreeing to maintain the status quo.
Regarding Taiwan, meanwhile, with which past U.S. administrations have kept good terms, Trump seems to be keeping the balance by strengthening the commitment in defense through weapons sales.
According to the sources, the White House will start full-scale deliberations on supplying Taiwan with the weapons package after the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting. Working-level discussions between Washington and Taipei likely have already kicked off behind the scenes, the sources said.
According to a former senior official at the U.S. State Department who is well-informed of the deliberation process, cutting-edge F-35 stealth fighter jets and the most advanced missile defense system are under consideration. As F-35 fighter jets are expensive and have advanced strike capabilities, the United States is also considering the possibility of selling upgraded F-16 fighter aircraft.
Even after severing its diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, past U.S. administrations have sold weapons for defense purposes to Taiwan in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, a U.S. law that stipulates maintaining commercial and cultural ties with Taiwan. The administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama decided to sell weapons three times between 2010 and 2015, worth $14 billion in total. However, taking China into account, the administration did not include the cutting-edge fighter jets, submarines and Aegis destroyers that Taiwan sought in the arms packages.
During the Trump-Xi meeting this week, the “one China” policy also will likely be one of the topics for discussion, according to sources.Speech
P!
This should add some spice to Xi’s visit to Mar-a-Lago.
Very interesting, good ping.
thank you!
The flying moonpig? They would be FAR better off with F-16s and F-15se. This 35 is not a machine that is good enough.
For one thing, the sad excuse for a gun in it doesn’t work yet. The software for the sight isn’t up.
Pilots under 136 pounds are prohibited because the ejection seat will injure them badly or kill them. 136 to 165, there is a seriously elevated injury risk compared to older legacy fighters. So Taiwan also needs heavier pilots.
Give them the means to defend themselves, so we don't have to do it for them.
Wouldn’t it be better to sell the F35 to enemies ,LOL
Maybe the US is ready to spring a “now witness the power of this fully armed and operstional Death Star” moment on our foes.
The pilots who have written about it in “Aviation Week” are practically orgasmic in their descriptions.
I don’t know what to think about this.
I’m not sure it’s entirely a good idea.
Myself.
Important symbolic sale. China wants to disarm Us citizens, Japan and Taiwan, and it is high time to tell them to go ef themselves or tell that to ourselves
Announcing this won't help accomplish that.
POS sold here ...
We should throw in some advanced attack subs while we’re at it.
Instead of our advanced attack sub, Taiwan would do better with smaller electric subs made by Germany or Sweden. These are very quiet, dangerous and needs fewer crew members. The F-35 is way expensive, Taiwan could get more F-16s at the same dollar amount.
Germany and Sweden would never sell to Taiwan. Better to try South Korea.
That would JMHO be almost meaningless.
Between our own MSM (Aviation Week was regarded as a crass leaker when I was in the Aero Barrio) and the herd of slimeballs infesting The Beltway, the ChiComs probably have better documentation on the F-35 than anybody.
Take a little trip through the news files about the time it took PRCAF to have a stone clone of the F-28 on a runway as evidence if you like....
You’re assuming the pilots would be Taiwanese at all.
Remember the Flying Tigers?
You mean that “flying moonpig” that just racked up a 20:1 kill ratio at Red Flag? Oh yeah, and the F-35s were being flown by students.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.