• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Ma repeats call for U.S. to sell Taiwan jet fighters

ROC Central News Agency

2011/06/28 18:00:21

Taipei, June 28 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou urged the U.S. again Tuesday to approve the sale of advanced F-16 C/D jet fighters to Taiwan, saying that with China's continued military buildup, it was becoming increasingly crucial to maintain the military balance across the Taiwan Strait.

In a meeting at the Presidential Office with Raymond F. Burghardt, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, Ma said Taiwan was appreciative of the U.S.' two most recent weapons sales to Taiwan in October 2008 and January 2010, respectively.

The US$13 billion procurement packages have allowed Taiwan to improve its defense preparedness, the president said.

However, he said, Taiwan still needs to acquire advanced F-16 C/Ds to upgrade its fleet of F-16 A/B jet fighters, and to purchase diesel submarines in order to further strengthen its defense capabilities.

He stressed that Taiwan's efforts to acquire the weapon systems from the U.S. were purely for defensive purposes, in keeping with the terms of the Taiwan Relations Act.

The weapons that Taiwan is seeking cannot be produced locally and will be used to replace aging ones, he said.

On the issue of U.S. beef, Ma said imports of the product had indeed dropped since a leanness drug Paylean was found in some samples, but only by 15 percent over the past five months.

He said the relevant agencies were still trying to reach an agreement on whether and how the regulations should be amended to deal with the Paylean issue.

Talks between Taiwan-U.S. under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) were scheduled to re-open in Taipei in January after a 3-year suspension but were delayed again when the Paylean issue arose.

In apparent irritation over the Taiwan government's decision to recall U.S. beef products, the U.S. last year postponed the TIFA talks indefinitely and has since been calling for Taiwan to amend its regulations on beef imports.

For his part, Burghardt said he had not brought any specific message from Washington this time and that his meeting with the president was a regular one.

He offered his congratulations to Taiwan on its democratic achievements as it prepares for the 2012 presidential elections. (By Kelven Huang and Deborah Kuo) enditem /pc