Taiwan looks forward to purchasing F-16 C/D fighters from U.S.
ROC Central News Agency
2008-04-07 20:27:48
Taipei, April 7 (CNA) Taiwan's lawmakers and the military are looking forward to purchasing 66 F-16 C/D fighters from the United States for the Republic of China Air Force, despite their disagreement over why the proposed deal, reportedly approved by Washington in 2006, has failed to materialize.
Deputy Defense Minister Ko Cheng-heng told a meeting of the legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that premature exposure of the deal and pressure from Beijing are the most likely reasons why the U.S. government has hesitated in giving the go-ahead for the sale.
Ko said that an answer obtained from the U.S. State Department about the proposed armed deal is that the decision is now up to the U.S. president.
Opposition Kuomintang Legislator Lin Yu-fang, a co-convener of the committee, disagreed with Ko's explanation.
He said the U.S. government was having second thoughts on the deal mainly because it was displeased with President Chen Shui-bian's obstinacy in pushing a national referendum on using the name of "Taiwan" to enter the United Nations.
The legislative committee later unanimously approved a proposal to defreeze a NT$29.64 million (US$974,140) budget designated for the training of personnel and other related purposes in preparation for the purchase of the F-16 fighters.
Last year, the legislature approved an initial conditional budget of NT$20 billion for the F-16 deal, with the funding only allowed to be used when the U.S. side has agreed to proceed with the sale.
Taiwan currently has some 140 F-16 A/B jet fighters, which it bought from the United States in the 1990s. The Air Force is hoping to acquire 66 F-16 C/D aircraft --- a more advanced multipurpose jet fighter -- to replace its aging F-5E fighters.
(By Han Nai-kuo)
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