Taiwan Needs F-16s

Asian Defense News: (By Michael Mazza) The recent announcement that the United States will sell PAC-3s to Taiwan was good news for Taipei. Taiwan continues to face an ever-growing ballistic missile threat from the mainland and the PAC-3 anti-ballistic missile system is an important component of Taiwan’s air defenses. Though the Obama administration should be applauded for including PAC-3 batteries in upcoming arms sales to the island, the arms sales package is not as robust as it should be.
In particular, F-16s, which Taiwan has requested, are missing from the mix. It is not only with missiles that China poses a threat to Taiwan, but with fighter aircraft as well. According to DOD’s 2009 report to Congress on China’s military power, Taiwan no longer enjoys the ability to achieve air dominance over the Taiwan Strait, as it did at the beginning of this century.
Faced with the dual threat of growing numbers of SRBMs and increasingly sophisticated fighter aircraft, Taiwan risks becoming more susceptible to coercion by force even as it tightens ties to the mainland. The Taiwan Relations Act requires the United States to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself; in order to fulfill that legal obligation, the administration should authorize the sale of F-16s to Taiwan.
China would of course react unfavorably, but we cannot let fears of Chinese temper tantrums drive U.S. policy. Indeed, history shows that such arms sales would not do irreparable or lasting damage to Sino-U.S. relations. The sale of F-16s to Taiwan would, however, help to ensure the island’s continued de facto independence and would demonstrate American resolve and dependability to allies in the region. Some Chinese blustering would be a small price to pay in the pursuit of these important U.S. interests.
Michael Mazza is a research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute.