The House of Representatives voted Friday to require the US to sell 66 new F-16 fighter aircraft to Taiwan in addition to the current upgrade deal. Kay Granger, Republican Representative of Texas, said that Taiwan needed more than a simple upgrade of its aging F-16 fleet in order to face the Chinese rapid growth in military spending.
"The sale of F-16s to Taiwan ensures our key strategic ally in the Pacific has the defense capacity to defend its own airspace. Our support for a democratic Taiwan is consistent with our national security priorities in the region and demonstrates that we will continue to stand by our friends and allies no matter who or where the threats are from".
"The Obama administration authorized a 5.85 billion dollar upgrade of Taiwan's existing F-16 fleet in September. The administration argued that the upgrade would bring more immediate benefits to Taiwan than a sale. but the move was widely seen as a way to limit criticism from China at a time when the United States seeks Beijing's cooperation on a range of issues from trade disputes to standoffs with North Korea and Iran" press agencies said.
The US congress is a stronghold of support for Taiwan, where China's nationalists fled in 1949 after losing the civil war. It is also to be noted that in 1979 the Congress approved a law that requires the administration to provide Taiwan with aircraft and weapons to defend itself.
On the other side, China is "Still developing military capabilities to give it the ability to settle the dispute on Beijing's terms" and it must be said that China has never renounced the right to use force to achieve unification with Taiwan.
"However, Beijing still lacks these capabilities and recognize the costs and risks associated with a decision to escalate the dispute to the point of conflict".
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