Taiwan's President urges U.S. to sell F-16Cs to island

President Ma Ying-jeou called on the United States Wednesday to sell more arms to Taiwan, saying that such a request is justified and the arms sales will help Taiwan to maintain a military balance against China. "The delicate balance of the status quo is being shaken by the gross military imbalances across the (Taiwan) Strait. Therefore, I urge the United States to not hesitate to provide Taiwan with the necessary defensive arms as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) , " Ma said via teleconferencing from Taiwan in a forum on the TRA.

Ma's comment in the forum, titled "U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a New Era: Looking Forward 30 Years After the Taiwan Relations Act, " was his first major public statement to U.S. political and academic sectors since he took office last May. He promised that Taiwan will not "free-ride" on the U.S. for its own security, as it has taken several steps to show its intention to build its military strength. Those steps, he explained, included publishing a quadrennial defense review last month, making plans to create an all volunteer force to enhance the professionalism of the military and increasing the defense budget to at least three percent of the country's GDP. During a Q&A session, Ma urged the U.S. to approve Taiwan's requests to acquire submarines and high performance jet fighters such as the F-16 C/D because they are for defensive purposes.

"In view of the sharp changes in the military balance across the Taiwan Strait, I think it is fully justified for the U.S. to seriously consider selling them (to Taiwan),"the president said. Given the warming cross-strait ties, he said, Washington should not be worried that such arms sales would jeopardize its relations with China. "Even China understands very well that at the moment we want to improve relations with the mainland. But we also, as a government, have to maintain a military balance across the Taiwan Strait, " he said. The U.S. has long been Taiwan's major weapons supplier, despite the fact that this has been an irritant in U.S.-China relations.

In the latest arms deal between Taiwan and the U.S., the administration of former President George W. Bush approved in October 2008 the sale of a weapons package that includes 30 Apache attack helicopters, 330 advanced capability Patriot missiles, 32 Harpoon sub-launched missiles, 182 Javelin guided missiles, and four E-2T system upgrades. Asked about confidence building measures with China, Ma said it is a rather "difficult and sensitive" issue at the moment, and that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should focus only on economic issues because they are more urgent and more closely related to the livelihood of the people on both sides. As to bilateral relations between Taiwan and the U.S., Ma said in the future the focus will be less on politics and more on pragmatism.

Taiwan will work closely with the U.S. on issues such as opening Taiwan's market to U.S. agricultural products, promoting e-commerce, exploring ways to reform Taiwan's investment environment and improving the protection of intellectual property rights, he explained. On top of that, Taiwan would also like to conclude an extradition agreement with the U.S., to participate in America's visa-waiver program and to sign a free trade agreement with the U.S., the president said. The forum, hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) , also included panelists such as noted China affairs experts Bonnie Glaser, Douglas Paal, Alan Romberg, Randy Schriver and Kerry Dumbaugh.

Posted in: F-16,Fighter jet,Taiwan