Taiwan has to wait on request to buy U.S. F-16 jet fighters

The Nelson Report catering for politicians in Washington, D.C. quoted sources close to the administration of President George Bush as saying that the purchase is not going to happen soon, if at all, and this is a decision made by the White House, not the State Department or the Department of Defense.

That means that President Bush himself maintains his control over U.S.-Taiwan policy, the report said, adding that Bush’s basic concern is that anything the U.S. does at the present time may give inadvertent encouragement to actions by Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian which may imperil the peaceful status quo with China.

According to the Taiwan Relations Act, arms sales to Taiwan are not supposed to be affected by any other factor than that island’s objective military needs, the report said. However it isn’t easy to separate political considerations, including pressure from China.

The report quoted the sources as saying that the Taiwan Relations Act is not the F-16 entitlement act and there is serious debate in the administration about what Taiwan really needs, versus what it might like to get.

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