Trump administration approves F-16 fighter jet sales to Taiwan

The Trump administration is moving forward with an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, American officials said Friday. The move is certain to further anger China at a time when a long-running trade war between Washington and Beijing has upended relations between the world’s two largest economies and contributed to stock market turmoil.

The State Department told Congress Thursday night, right after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had signed a memo approving the sale, officials said. Congress is not expected to object to the move. For weeks, lawmakers from both parties had accused the administration of delaying the sale to avoid jeopardising trade negotiations or to use it as a bargaining chip.

But trade talks in Shanghai at the end of July led nowhere, and President Donald Trump said earlier this month that the United States would impose a 10% tariff on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports on Sept 1. He then partly reversed himself over concerns about the impact on Americans.

Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, a foreign policy hawk, has been a longtime advocate of arms sales to Taiwan and has pushed for greater US support for its government. Some analysts say China could retaliate by punishing US companies with sanctions, which it has done in the past.

The sale of 66 jets to Taiwan would be the largest single arms package transaction between the United States and the democratic, self-governing island in years. Communist Party officials in Beijing have strongly objected to the package, which has been a long-standing request from Taiwan.

The jets would be the fourth package of arms sales to Taiwan from the Trump administration. The first two packages totalled less than $2 billion. On July 8, the Trump administration told Congress it was moving ahead with a $2.2 billion package that consisted mainly of 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks.

“There is never a good time to sell arms to Taiwan, but this timing is probably the worst possible choice,” said Evan Medeiros, professor in Asian studies at Georgetown University and senior Asia director on the National Security Council during the Obama administration. “Trade talks will stall, China will try to hit American companies hard and Chinese will see a conspiratorial link between US support for Taiwan and Hong Kong.”

c.2019 New York Times News Service