Taiwan calls for US fighter jets, cites China stealth plane
Related Articles
A top Taiwanese official has renewed calls for Washington to sell the island advanced aircraft in the wake of China’s development of its first stealth plane, a report said Wednesday.
Parliamentary speaker Wang Jin-pyng warned that China could upset regional and global order by developing the J-20 jet, the state Central News Agency said.
He urged Washington to provide Taiwan with advanced fighter jets to counter a serious imbalance between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait due to China’s rapid military expansion, the report said.
Wang, a top politician from the governing Kuomintang party, made the comments during a visit to the United States where he is expected to meet with US politicians and academics, it said.
Taipei applied to the US government to buy 66 F-16 C/D fighters in early 2007, but observers say Washington has held up the deal for fear of angering Beijing.
China opposes any arms sales to Taiwan, which it considers a part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though the two sides split in 1949 after a civil war and have been governed separately since.
Taiwan maintains that it still needs to maintain sufficient self defence despite improving ties in recent years.
Related Topic Tags
Related Defense, Military & Aerospace Forum Discussions
- Chinas beefing navy
- Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Defence Procurement
- Modernizing America's Nukes?
- Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates
- Philippine Navy Discussion and Updates
- Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] News, Discussions and Updates
- NZDF General discussion thread
- Russian Air Force News & Discussion
- Attack Helicopters
- Rebuilding a smaller mid sized Navy
- F-35 Multirole Joint Strike Fighter
- Advice for joining the army.
- Turkish National Police (TNP) Helicopter Project Bid
- ADF General discussion thread
- Australian Defense Forces Recruiting Foreign Military Personnel
