By Gerrit van der Wees
The Obama administration’s decision to offer upgrades to Taiwan’s aging F-16 fighter fleet will annoy Beijing and unsettle Taiwan.
On Wednesday, the Obama administration officially notified the US Congress of its decision to only offer Taiwan an upgrade of existing F-16 A/Bs, rather than the sale of 66 new F-16 C/Ds as the government in Taipei had requested.
The issue had already caused political shockwaves in Washington long before the decision was announced: back in May of this year, a broad coalition of 45 senators wrote to Obama urging him to ‘quickly notify Congress of the sale of 66 F-16 C/D aircraft that Taiwan needs in order to modernize its air force.’ On August 1, the House of Representatives followed suit with a similar letter, signed by a staggering 181 House members.
Read the full story at The Diplomat