taiwan's former air force deputy commander reveals three phenomena about us arms sales to taiwan
2024-09-24
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"we don't sell the newest ones, we hold back on the ones we've already paid for, and we clear out the stock we don't want."
according to a report by taiwan’s china times on september 24, us arms sales were quite active in august 2024, and the current value of us arms owed to taiwan has reached 20.5 billion us dollars. china times quoted the diplomat as saying on the 21st that the us’s “restraint” in supplying weapons has put taiwan in a defense dilemma. in response, zhang yanting, former deputy commander of the taiwan air force, said on the 23rd, “how can we train now that the weapons are not in place?”
according to china times news, the value of the arms owed by the united states to taiwan has reached 20.5 billion us dollars.
according to reports, zhang yanting said on the taiwanese political talk show "news in plain language" on the 23rd, "i think there are three phenomena in the us arms sales to taiwan. the first is that the latest arms are not sold, the second is that the arms that have been paid for are delayed, and the third is to clear out the stocks of (expired military products) that we don't want." zhang yanting said, "what do we want to buy? we need the latest f-35 stealth fighters, because taiwan has none of them, and we want to buy p-8a anti-submarine patrol aircraft, because our p-3cs are old, or aerial refueling aircraft, which are the latest ones, but they don't sell them. we have already paid 20.5 billion us dollars, but we are still waiting and queuing. this is what we urgently need, but they didn't give it to us."
zhang yanting also said, "the f-16v was supposed to be delivered in the third quarter of last year, but it has not been delivered until now. on december 1 last year, all the f-5es at zhihang base were eliminated, and now they are just sitting there waiting for the f-16vs. we are paying for them because we need them urgently. we need them for training, not for fighting." zhang yanting finally said, "third, we don't need you to clear out your inventory, just give us all the expired ammunition." "how can we train without the weapons now?"
zhang yanting's statement caused netizens on the island to speak out, leaving a message in the comment section of taiwanese media: "the democratic progressive party of taiwan is willing to be the u.s. pawn (sucker), and the kuomintang is silent..."
on september 16, local time, the u.s. state department approved the sale of spare parts and technical support for fighter jets to taiwan, with an amount of about us$228 million. zhang xiaogang, a spokesman for the ministry of national defense, responded on the 20th that "taiwan independence" is the biggest cancer for peace and stability in the taiwan strait. the u.s. "using force to support independence" sends a serious wrong signal to the "taiwan independence" separatist forces, which is pushing taiwan step by step into a dangerous situation of war, seriously endangering the safety and well-being of taiwan compatriots and seriously escalating tensions in the taiwan strait. it needs to be emphasized that taiwan's security depends on the peaceful development of cross-strait relations. u.s.-made weapons are not the "talisman" of the dpp authorities, but the "lifeline" of their self-destruction.
(source: huanqiu.com)
