The American Spectator : Where's Taiwan?

Text Size

Where's Taiwan?

By Peter Hannaford on 7.11.11 @ 6:08AM

Not very high in this administration's list of priorities.

You're forgiven if you've forgetten what and where it is. After all, it's been out of the headlines for a long time. It's that island about 100 miles off the shore of China. It's the one the Obama State Department would just as soon see float out to sea, so that it would stop putting in those pesky requests for defensive arms that U.S. law calls for.

It's been 32 years since Congress passed and then-President Carter signed the Taiwan Relations Act. It calls for us to sell sufficient arms to help Taiwan (formally known as the Republic of China) deter a potential attack from Communist China. Despite China's occasional reiteration that it retains the "right" to invade Taiwan if the island were to declare its independence, it has never been under the control of the Communist government.

We have made the sales from time to time. Each time we have done so, Beijing goes into what China-watchers call Gong-banging Mode. They thunder that we are interfering in "internal" Chinese business; that we are destabilizing our relationship with them; that the world will end tomorrow we if don't withdraw the sale. And so on. After awhile the gong-banging stops; the cancelled China-U.S. meetings are rescheduled and life goes on.

Meanwhile, over the years, China has continually added to the thousands of rockets and launchers it has installed on the coast of Fujian Province, just opposite Taiwan, to underscore the point that it could attack at any moment, should it wish to do so.

Last year, Beijing put its military relations with us on "hold" following our sale of missiles and helicopters to the ROC on Taiwan. They were resumed this spring with the visit to Washington of Beijing's army's chief of staff. So, it was back to the pre-sale status quo.

Taiwan purchased its all-important F-16 fighter aircraft in the 1980s. Nothing lasts forever and they have asked to buy 66 new F16C/D models. When the informal request came in, the Obama Administration swooned. Not long before he left office, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that, while the U.S. tried to abide by the terms of the Taiwan Relations Act, it was also important to address "Chinese sensibilities."

The way the administration has done this is to quietly tell the ROC government in Taipei not to formally request the new jets just now, but to ask for a an interim purchase of an arms and equipment package that would "upgrade" its nearly 30-year-old aircraft. The State Department has held up action even on that watered-down alternative. It is also sitting on two reports to Congress on China's military prowess and the state of air power over the Taiwan Strait. This suggests the reports would buttress Taiwan's need for stronger defensive arms.

Even if it stopped dithering, moved forward with the "interim" plan and released the two reports, the administration would still need earplugs to withstand the noise of Beijing's gong banging. The decibel level would be less than if we sold Taiwan the 66 new fighters, but the effect would be the same. Beijing might cancel some meeting or other. How scary.

In late May, 45 senators of both parties wrote to Mr. Obama urging the sale of the 66 aircraft.

That would be good for keeping things as they are in the Taiwan Strait. It is the formula that has worked for more than three decades. It's no secret that China, with its growing deep-water fleet, wants to replace the United States as the dominant force in the Western Pacific. Helping Taiwan defend itself effectively, should the need arise, forestalls Beijing's aggressive plans.

There is a side benefit to the sale of the F-16s to Taiwan. They are made by Lockheed Martin and its contractors. A recent study estimates that the sale would generate or save more than 87,000 jobs. Without it, Lockheed may have to close down its F-16 production line.

About the Author

Peter Hannaford was closely associated with the late President Ronald Reagan for a number of years. His latest book is Reagan's Roots: The People and Places That Shaped His Character.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (17) | Leave a comment

l5j6| 7.11.11 @ 6:20AM

Hussein bin Obama is more comfortable with totalitarians/despots/jihadis/communists, etc.

Taiwan, Japan, Israel and Australia all were interested in purchasing the F-22 Raptor fighter jet. Hussein cancelled the production of the F-22 back in '09.

He needs the money for his "social justice" shuck & jive.

masly| 7.12.11 @ 2:22AM

Just a little reminder as, once again,unmonitored, unchallengedunexposed, unprosecuted ---indeed TAX FREE,Globalism and EUGENICS are given supreme reign of our destinies.
I am a 28 years old doctor, mature and beautiful.and now I am seeking a good man who can give me real love , so i got a username Andromeda2002 on--s'e'ek'c'ou'ga'r.c óm--.it is the first and best club for y'ounger women and old'er men, or older women and y'ounger men,to int'eract with each other. Maybe you wanna ch'eck 'it out or tell your friends!

nister| 7.11.11 @ 6:41AM

How does an F-16 forestall the misssile attack from the Fujian coast, Mr. Hannaford? Assuming that the missiles crater every runway, what response is available?

POST American| 7.11.11 @ 7:48AM

---TOOOOO funny.

Everyone knows the whole shebang's been
subsumed by the Gobalist (Bush Sr./Rockefeller
front Cinton/Bush Jr/ Fmr Kissinger sideman
Barack Obama) RED China sellout and TREASON op.

Better to ask if there's a Howard Johnson's
on those giant, brand new tunnels finishing off
between Pidgeon Lake B.C. ---and the north
Asian mainand (CHECK IT OUT). BTW -not the
ONLY tunnel network reported --then memory
holed.

--OR if Boise has the chopsticks ready for that
under construction 50 square mile chunk of
sovereign RED Chinese territory disguised as
an eco-zone just due south.

---Taiwan? ----South Korea? ----Genocide?
-----American sovereignty? ----Consitutional
rights? ------EUGENICS?

Such '90's Show' concerns------------------------

Alan Brooks| 7.11.11 @ 5:11PM

Eleanor Roosevelt?
controlled demolition?
Purity Of Essence?
David Ferrie's fake eyelashes?

The Teletubby Tinkie Winkie?

RT| 7.11.11 @ 9:18AM

Speaking of shuck and jive...

(PA's uninteligible drivel, that is.)

W| 7.11.11 @ 10:45AM

Obama has a choice: 1) create 87,000 real union jobs,and help an ally, OR 2) not create 87,000 real union jobs and help a communist dictatorship.
What will he ever do?

Pecos Pete| 7.11.11 @ 12:12PM

Hmmmm? Let me see.... I know! Me thinks King O will help a communist dictatorship. The question was too easy.

Alan Brooks| 7.11.11 @ 2:06PM

Let China buy out America, and the Chinese wont need Taiwan.

Occam's Tool| 7.11.11 @ 8:10PM

What does Ron Paul think? I thought he was tough on Commies.

POST American| 7.12.11 @ 12:05AM

----And now for a '30's Show' BLAST from the past:

"---All that's been given with our money,
her modern dwellings, fine public highways,
her perefect factories. All this has been
given with our money. All this has been
given to Germany. The Federal Reserve
has pumped so many billions into Germany
that they dare not name the total."
-Rep. CHARLES McFADDEN
D Penn
1935

---Just a little reminder as, once again,
unmonitored, unchallenged
unexposed, unprosecuted ---indeed TAX FREE,
Globalism and EUGENICS are given supreme
reign of our destinies.

cheap shox| 7.12.11 @ 5:01AM

Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.

air jordan| 7.12.11 @ 5:02AM

To see a world in a grain of sand，
And a heaven in a wild fllower，
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand，
And eternity in an hour.

weddingdress| 7.12.11 @ 5:13AM

----And now for a '30's Show' BLAST from the past:

Joseph Gause| 7.12.11 @ 3:14PM

Never forget that the Republic of China, and it's Guomintang, founded by Sun Yat Sen, were signatories to the establishment of the United Nations. The ROC was a member of the original U.N. Security Council. When we recognized the Peoples Republic of China, and withdrew recognition of the ROC, we dishonored an old friend.