U.S. to decide whether to grant Taiwan F-16V sale in July: MND

ROC Central News Agency

2019/04/10 14:17:41

Taipei, April 10 (CNA) The United States is expected to decide whether it will sell a batch of new fighter jets to Taiwan in July, Defense Minister Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said Wednesday, rebutting a previous report that Washington has set aside the arms sale pending a trade deal with Beijing.

Yen told lawmakers during a Legislative session that Taiwan submitted a Letter of Request (LOR) to the U.S. in February to buy a fleet of fighter planes.

The U.S. military needs to notify Congress whether it decides to grant the sale within 150 days after receiving the LOR, according to Yen.

"So we expect to learn the U.S. decision in July," Yen said.

Although the military has never officially confirmed what type of jets it wants from the U.S., President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has previously made clear that the nation is seeking F-16V fighter jets.

Meanwhile, Air Force Chief of Staff Liu Jen-yuan (劉任遠) also confirmed Wednesday that the Air Force is asking for a total of 66 fighter jets from the U.S.

Yen's comments came as he clarified a previous Time magazine report last week that the White House's initial decision reported in late March to offer tacit approval for Taiwan to buy 60 Lockheed Martin F-16V fighter jets was widely seen as a U.S. show of strength against China.

But the decision to delay approval of the sale has contributed to concern among some in the U.S. Administration that Trump may "go soft" on China in his desire to secure a trade deal, according to Time.

According to a Taiwan military-released arms sales chart, should the U.S. give the request a green light, it will send a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) to Taiwan detailing its offer.

Taipei then reviews the offer and completes a proposal for the procurement project before sending the LOA back to the U.S..

Various government branches on the U.S. side then look over the proposal before the U.S. government notifies Congress of the sale and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency under the Department of Defense makes the deal public.

The process is completed once both sides sign the LOA, according to the MND-released chart.

(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)
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