taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen
commissioned into service 64 upgraded F-16v fighter jets at an air force base
in Chiayi on Thursday. The aircraft represent part of Taiwan's
total 141 F-16A B jets, an older model
from the 1990s that will be completely
retrofitted by the end of 2023.
Tsay said the upgrade project showed the
strength of Taiwan's cooperation with
the u.s defense industry. it comes at a time the island status has
become a major point of tension in the
u.s china relationship. Beijing has been stepping up its threat
by sending fighter jets in combat
formations into Taiwan's buffer zone
southwest of the island on a regular
basis, along with longer-range missions
into the western pacific.
China has
increased its rhetoric as well with
president Xi Jinping telling president Joe Biden during a virtual summit this
week that challenges to china's claim
over the island amounted to playing with
fire. China and Taiwan split during a civil
war in 1949 and Beijing has not ruled
out force to reunify with the island.
The united states won china policy
recognizes Beijing as the government of
china but allows informal relations and
defense ties with Taipei. This represents the steadfast promise of
the Taiwan u.s. Partnership Tsai said i
trust that in holding fast to democratic
values, there will definitely be more
countries with similar values who will
stand with us on this front.
In Beijing foreign ministry spokesperson
Zhao legion reiterated china's
opposition to official contacts between
Taiwan and the US in hopes that
Washington will be cautious with its
words and actions on the Taiwan issue
and refrain from sending any wrong
signals to the secessionist forces of
Taiwan independence. The crux of the tension in the Taiwan
strait is that the secessionist forces
of Taiwan independence are sparing no
effort to split the country and collude
with external forces,
Zhao told reporters
at a daily briefing, what they are doing is just like an ant
trying to topple the giant tree which
will surely end up in failure. The F-16v is the most technologically
advanced version of the storied
multi-role fighter jet, equipped with
highly capable radar allowing it to
track more than 20 targets at a time. It also features cutting-edge electronic
warfare systems along with advanced
weapons precision GPS navigation in a
system to automatically avoid collisions
with the ground.
The planes represent the most advanced
of the fourth generation of fighter
aircraft but still below the latest
fifth-generation such as the USF-22 and F-35 and Russia's Su-57 in china's J-20. Taiwan has mooted the idea of purchasing
fifth-generation aircraft from the US but the F-16 upgrade was decided as the
most effective measure under present
circumstances.
Taiwan's air force also operates french
to sow mirage 2000 in domestically
designed and manufactured AIDCFC Chinkuo fighters for a total fleet of
around 400. China by contrast operates around 1,600
fighters around half of them based in
the eastern and southern theaters
abutting Taiwan, along with around 450
bombers.
China's superiority in both quality and
quantity of fighter aircraft is seen as
turning the military balance in the
Taiwan strait to its advantage, independent of involvement by u.s forces. with the upgrades in the planned
delivery of 66 new F-16 verses in
2023 Taiwan will be the largest operator
of F-16s in Asia,said Kitsch Liao a
military and cyber affairs consultant
for doublethink lab an organization
targeting disinformation.
this means the island should invest in
repair centers for the jets to improve
readiness, Liao said. previously Taiwan had to send the jets
to other countries for repair. In Chiayi pilots in f-16s showed off
complex maneuvers on Thursday, flying low
across the skies.
Sandra Falkirk the director of the
American Institute in Taiwan the u.s de
facto embassy in Taiwan was in
attendance as well.