Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn on April 27 lifted a two-month hold on the nomination of Mark Lippert to become the Pentagon’s top official for Asia after the White House pledged to give “serious consideration” to selling new F-16C/D fighter jets to Taiwan.
Cornyn’s proposal to sell new F-16C/D jets “warrants serious consideration given the growing military threat to Taiwan,” said an April 27 letter signed by Robert Nabors, White House director of legislative affairs.
Under U.S. law, the administration is required to provide for the self-defense of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that China claims as its territory. The Obama administration authorized a $5.85 billion upgrade of Taiwan’s aging fighter jets in September.
That deal drew immediate criticism from Obama’s Republican rivals, who argued that the sale of new jets, while likely upsetting Beijing, would better defend Taiwan from a rising China as well as create U.S. manufacturing jobs.
The Obama administration argued at the time that an upgrade rather than sale of new planes would more immediately address Taiwan’s military needs.
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