Taiwan Mulls New Generation of Jet Fighters

Taiwan Mulling New Generation of Jet Fighters

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TAIPEI

Originally from DefenceNews.

Taiwan said April 12 it is considering buying a new generation of jet fighters in order to prevent the balance of power shifting in rival China’s favor in the event of an EU arms embargo being lifted.

Taiwan Defense Minister Lee Jye said he had ordered a study on obtaining the new fighters after reports that French company Dassault Aviation, which had sold the island Mirage jets, may provide its latest line of fighters to the mainland.

In reply to questions raised in parliament, Lee said the ministry was alarmed by the reports that Dassault may sell China its Mirage 2000-9s, which are superior to the 60 Mirage 2000-5s it sold to Taiwan in the 1990s.

The French aircraft maker had told Taiwan’s government it was unlikely to sell Beijing jet fighters before the European Union lifts its arms embargo on China, Lee said.

“But sooner or later, it may sell fighter jets to the Chinese communists, and should that happen, it would help contribute to the tipping of military balance in the Taiwan Strait,” he said.

Lee said that last year he had ordered “the air force to evaluate the plan about the acquisition of the third-generation fighters.”

He did not elaborate, but air force lieutenant-general Peng Sheng-chu told parliament April 11 that to counter the threat, the air force may buy US-made F-35s, F-15s, F-18s or upgrade its existing F-16 fleet.

The backbone of Taiwan’s air force is made up of about 150 F-16s, 60 Mirage 2000-5s and 130 home-grown Indigenous Defensive Fighters.

The European Union is debating whether it should lift the arms embargo it imposed after the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy students in Beijing.

The EU had agreed in December to the principle of ending the ban, but support for the move has waned since the Chinese parliament on March 14 passed a controversial anti-secession law, which authorizes the use of military force against Taiwan if the island moves toward formal independence