The sale of spare and repair components for F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan has been approved by the US State Department with a potential cost of $80 million, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
The DSCA said in a statement that the sale will “improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region.”
The military ministry of Taiwan expressed gratitude to the US and stated that the sale would help the air force’s demands for defense and battle. The deal would be completed in July, according to the ministry. “With normalized gray-zone harassments, the Chinese Communist Party attempted to squeeze our naval and air training space and response time, as well as limiting our rights of self-defense,” it said in a statement.
Beijing has frequently asked that the United States, Taiwan’s main military supplier, stop providing the island with weaponry. Beijing claims the island as its own despite Taipei’s adamant opposition.
Taiwan’s defense minister, Wellington Koo, told reporters in parliament on Thursday that Taiwan needs to strengthen its defenses in order to contribute to “effective deterrence” in the US Indo-Pacific strategy.
“But for Taiwan-US military cooperation, there are many things we can only do, not tell,” he stated.
