The US State Department has approved the sale of spare parts and additional equipment for F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan for a total of $300 million, the Pentagon said.
⠀
According to the published notice from the Ministry of Defense, the sale of equipment and spare parts is expected to be sold in two parts – in the amount of 220 and 80 million dollars, respectively.
⠀
Under the larger deal, Taiwan will purchase standard spare and repair parts, components, consumables and additional equipment for the F-16, as well as U.S. engineering, technical and logistics support services.
⠀
The second, smaller purchase includes non-standard spare and repair parts, as well as other goods and services similar to the previous one.
⠀
“The equipment will be supplied from US Air Force stockpiles… The proposed sale will not have a negative impact on United States defense readiness,” the Pentagon added.
⠀
Beijing considers Taiwan an integral part of the PRC, and adherence to the “one China” principle is a prerequisite for other states wishing to establish or maintain diplomatic relations with the PRC. The “one China” principle and non-recognition of Taiwan’s independence are also observed by the United States, despite the fact that they maintain close contacts with Taipei in various fields and supply the island with weapons.
⠀
The situation around Taiwan worsened significantly after Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited the island in early August 2022. China, which considers the island one of its provinces, condemned Pelosi’s visit as US support for Taiwanese separatism and held large-scale military exercises.
⠀
Official relations between the central government of China and its island province were interrupted in 1949 after the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek, defeated in the civil war with the Chinese Communist Party, moved to Taiwan. Business and informal contacts between the island and mainland China resumed in the late 1980s. Since the early 1990s, the parties began to contact through non-governmental organizations – the Beijing Association for the Development of Relations across the Taiwan Strait and the Taipei Cross-Strait Exchange Foundation.
