136 U.S. congressmen call for sale of F-16 fighter jets

Initiated by Shelley Berkley, Gerald Connolly, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Phil Gingrey, the co-chairmen of the Taiwan Caucus, a congressional group friendly to Taiwan, the letter urged the Obama government to come to a decision on the arms deal as soon as possible.

The U.S. government, in its latest US$6.4-billion arms package to Taiwan announced in January, excluded the F-16 C/Ds, which the congressmen said Taiwan desperately needs.

Taiwan's air defense capability has been declining because of the aging of its fleet and China's deployment of 1,300 short- and medium-range missiles targeted at Taiwan, the letter said, necessitating the sale.

With the F-16 jet's production lines soon to be closed, selling F-16 C/Ds to Taiwan has become more urgent, the letter said.

Under the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. is obliged to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons.

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