Taiwan to team up with US to build fighter jet centre, sending another defiant message to Beijing
- Centre could make Taiwan more self-sufficient in its defence capability
- Latest arms deal is further evidence of closer relations under presidencies of US’ Donald Trump and Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen
The self-ruled island’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) and US defence contractor Lockheed Martin signed a strategic partnership agreement on Tuesday to lay the groundwork for construction of an F-16 fighter jet maintenance centre in Taiwan by 2023.
It is the latest of several significant agreements with the US during Donald Trump’s presidency. Trump approved a US$2.2 billion arms sale on July 8 that included 108 American-made M1A2T Abrams tanks and 250 Stinger missiles.
Trump also approved, in September last year, a US$330 million deal to provide spare parts and other logistics for several types of the island’s military aircraft – less than a year after the US agreed to sell US$1.4 billion of missiles, torpedoes and an early warning system to Taiwan.
Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary.