House backs sale of F-16s to Taiwan

[babylonsister]

House backs sale of F-16s to Taiwan
By Dave Montgomery | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Tuesday, October 2, 2007


WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged the Bush administration to proceed with a $4 billion sale of F-16s to Taiwan despite concerns that the deal could antagonize China.

"The reality is that any major U.S. sale at any time will be vehemently objected to by the Chinese communist regime," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla. "Should that affect our commitment to stability in the Taiwan Strait?"

The nonbinding resolution, approved on a voice vote with little discussion, underscores the U.S. commitment to help Taiwan defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.

Taiwan's parliament has allocated a $488 million down payment toward 66 F-16 C/D fighters. F-16 production is expected to end early in the next decade, but the fighter jet's maker, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., hopes to extend the line a few years longer with foreign sales.

The Bush administration balked at proceeding with the sale after Taiwan made overtures toward joining the United Nations, which China interprets as a hostile move by the island to reassert its independence from the mainland. Administration officials are fearful that Taiwan's independence movement could provoke an invasion from China.

"The Bush administration needs another crisis like it needs a hole in the head," said Michael Swaine, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It wants to avoid having this issue disintegrate into a confrontation with the Chinese."

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/20166.html

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Military Industrial complex? Perish the thought.

[aquart]

2. I assume her clothes come from Italy, not China?

How many of the F-16 parts are made in China, btw? Anybody know?