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

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A Taiwanese F-16V takes off during a drill in May. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:45pm, 17 Dec 2019Updated: 10:25pm, 17 Dec 2019

Taiwan has further bolstered its defence links with the United States with plans to build an F-16 fighter jet maintenance centre, as Taipei continues to resist Beijing’s goal of unification.

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.

He was quicker to approve F-16 sales than his predecessors, agreeing in August to sell the island 66 F-16V jets, which will mean Taiwan owns the most F-16s in the Asia-Pacific region.

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.