Trump administration notifies US Congress of plan to sell F-16s to Taiwan

South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) ^ | August 21, 2019 | Mark Magnier

[BeauBo]

The Trump administration formally notified Congress on Tuesday of its plans to authorise an US$8 billion sale of 66 F-16 fighter aircraft to Taiwan over Beijing’s objections, in a step that makes the deal all but certain...

The Chinese foreign ministry hit back on Wednesday, saying Beijing would take countermeasures. “China will take all necessary measures to safeguard our interests, including imposing sanctions on the US companies taking part in this arms sale to Taiwan,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said...

The last sale of military aircraft to Taipei was a quarter century ago...

The proposed deal involves the F-16C/D variations, also known as the Viper, an advanced version of the F-16s currently in Taiwan’s arsenal...

The Vipers can carry a wide range of short- and medium-range air-to-air missiles to better counter threatened air strikes from mainland China’s fourth-generation aircraft like the Su-35 and J-10, according to military experts. The deal will also allow President Donald Trump to boast about the American jobs he has created for Lockheed Martin, the main builder, and a host of subcontractors, in the lead-up to his 2020 re-election bid.

[Paul R.]

Wow, you know you’re having a bad day if you are out in your fishing trawler and a cruise missile comes in through the window....! (IF you ever see it coming!)

Our Tomahawks have somewhat different capabilities (both missiles are quite good), but IMO the main thing the PRC would be upset about is the “message” (”messages”, actually) sent by us in selling such an “offensive” weapon to Taiwan, in addition to the F-16’s. Taiwan developing home grown weapons is a much different matter, diplomatically speaking.

(BTW, Taiwan still has considerable work to do to ramp up production of the Hsiung Feng III’s, right?)

[rbmillerjr]

That is a quality looking missile that the Taiwanese have.

FYI, what are your top sources for following events in Southeast and East Asia in regard to China and National Security?

I read a lot of USNI and NavWar College stuff, but always looking for good sources to check out.

[Zhang Fei]

[FYI, what are your top sources for following events in Southeast and East Asia in regard to China and National Security?]

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South China Morning Post https://www.scmp.com/ has been great so far for warts and all coverage of the Chinese economy, political scene and military developments. It’s an English language paper catering to British and American expats. For discussions of Chinese military capabilities, I look at

http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=179
https://strategypage.com/default.aspx

[rbmillerjr]

Thanks. Highly appreciated.

[Zhang Fei]

[Thanks. Highly appreciated.]

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Very welcome. Here’s a thought-provoking article by Gordon Chang.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13497/china-sovereign-state

[rbmillerjr]

Yeah, Chang is a favorite of mine.

[bunkerhill7]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-0bLTAA3Ew