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U.S. mulls F-35s for Taiwan deal 8:19 pm, April 02, 2017 By Seima Oki and Yuko Mukai / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondents WASHINGTON/ TAIPEI — The United States is considering a new package of arms sales to Taiwan, sources said. Multiple sources close to the bilateral matter revealed that the United States would sell the weapons to Taiwan as early as this summer. Among the weapons are cutting-edge fighter jets, which past U.S. administrations did not allow to be sold to Taiwan. The arms package could be worth the highest amount ever. U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President...

US President Donald Trump’s unpredictability makes him “kind of afraid” of what might happen if Trump’s reported meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month in the US occurs, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director William Stanton said yesterday. Stanton, who led the AIT’s Taipei office from 2009 to 2012 during then-US president Barack Obama’s presidency, spoke to reporters in Mandarin on the sidelines of a forum in Taipei about Taiwan’s strategic planning during Trump’s term in office. The forum was hosted by the Taiwan Forever Association and the International Committee for a Democratic Taiwan, and Stanton was one...

Trump administration crafting big new arms sales to Taiwan, sources say The Trump administration is crafting a big new arms package for Taiwan that could include advanced rocket systems and anti-ship missiles to defend against China, U.S. officials said, a deal sure to anger Beijing. The package is expected to be significantly larger than one that was shelved at the end of the Obama administration, the officials told Reuters on the eve of a visit to Beijing by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. "The political desire is there to do a substantial sale," one administration official said, adding that...

Trump set to sell more arms The Obama administration blocked a $1 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December that was needed to improve the island's defenses despite approval from the State Department and Pentagon, according to Trump administration officials. The scuttling of the arms package was a set back for U.S. and Taiwanese efforts to bolster defenses against a growing array of Chinese missiles and other advanced weaponry deployed across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait. The action coincided with a controversial pre-inaugural phone call Dec. 2 between then-President-elect Trump and Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen. It could not be learned if...

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- As "a symbolic expression" of the U.S. commitment to Taiwan, U.S. Marines will be posted at the new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) compound in Taipei once it is open for business this year, former AIT Director Stephen Young said on Wednesday. No Marines have been posted in Taiwan since Washington severed ties with Taipei and recognized Beijing instead in 1979. Numerous media reports over the past few years have previously said that U.S. Marines would be posted at the AIT, but Young is the first ex-AIT official to speak publicly on the matter. Having U.S. Marines...

The arrogance of these refugees has been seen time and again, but people are finally starting to stand up and fight back. Political correctness is quickly going by the wayside in the name of self preservation. After taking a couple of cheap shots from a Muslim thug, a bus driver had a bit of a rude awakening for one of Allah’s little soldiers… people actually fight back when you come after them! Muslim migrants don’t want anything to do with the countries customs or laws, and think they are above them and the people of the country. That’s why this...

WASHINGTON — When President Trump took a phone call from the leader of Taiwan in December and asserted that the United States might no longer be bound by the “One China” policy, his defenders hailed it as a show of strength — the latest delicate issue on which Mr. Trump was willing to challenge decades of diplomatic orthodoxy. On Thursday evening, Mr. Trump fell back into line. In a call with President Xi Jinping of China, he pledged fealty to One China, a 44-year-old policy under which the United States recognized a single Chinese government in Beijing and severed its...

President Donald Trump's acceptance of Beijing's demand that he re-commit to a "one China" policy was heavily influenced by his new top diplomat, who argued behind the scenes that relations would remain on hold until Trump cleared up doubts about a longtime bedrock of U.S.-China ties, officials said.

In conversations between the White House and Jerusalem ahead of PM Netanyahu's visit to DC next week, the US administration is reportedly attempting to lay the groundwork for the two leaders to support a two-state solution, despite the recent acceleration in settlement building.

Two weeks after China allegedly unveiled a new ICBM system "in response to Trump's provocative remarks", a report which however was subsequently denied by Chinese officials, China had no qualms about revealing another highly accurate ballistic missile in recent Rocket Force drills, which is capable of threatening not only Taiwan and the contested South China Sea islands, but also U.S. and Japanese bases in Asia.As AP reports, the medium-range DF-16 featured in a video posted last week on the Defense Ministry's website showing the missiles aboard their 10-wheeled mobile launch vehicles being deployed in deep forest during exercises over...

Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) released an animation video showing the future guided-missile destroyer project for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy (ROC Navy) in combat. Renderings of this new project surfaced in June last year (as we reported). This new destroyer project is in line with Taiwan's new naval acquisition plan which was unveiled in late 2015. The new plan called for four new destroyers (among other vessels). ROC Navy Future Destroyer DDG Taiwan NCSIST CGI of the new DDG Project for the ROC Navy. It appears to share some similarities with the DDG 51...

Hong Kong said on Tuesday it would release the nine Singaporean armored vehicles it seized in November on their way home from military exercises in Taiwan, easing tensions between China and Singapore. After the troop carriers had been seized, Beijing, which regained sovereignty over the former British colony of Hong Kong in 1997, warned countries against maintaining military ties with Taiwan, which it views as a wayward province. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote to Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying requesting the return of the carriers, and Hong Kong said it would handle the matter in accordance with...

January 24, 2017 The latest diplomatic spat between the US and China erupted overnight, when China said on Tuesday it had "irrefutable" sovereignty over disputed islands in the South China Sea after White House spokesman Sean Spicer vowed to defend "international territories" in the strategic waterway. Spicer's first official comments on Monday signaled a sharp departure from years of cautious U.S. handling of China's assertive pursuit of territorial claims in Asia. "The U.S. is going to make sure that we protect our interests there," Spicer said when asked if Trump agreed with comments by his secretary of state nominee, Rex...

Taipei (AFP) - The head of Taiwan's tech giant Foxconn confirmed Sunday he is considering a $7 billion investment to make TV flat panels in the United States in a joint project with Japan's SoftBank. US President Donald Trump had announced before taking office a $50 billion deal with SoftBank which he said would generate 50,000 jobs. Trump was speaking last month alongside SoftBank's chief executive Masayoshi Son, who displayed a document which indicated Softbank and Foxconn would "commit to invest $50bn + $7bn in US, generate 50k + 50k new jobs in US in next four years". Foxconn, a...

Taiwan delegation to Trump inauguration arrives in U.S. 2017/01/17 New York, Jan. 16 (CNA) Former Premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) arrived in New York on Monday night at the head of the Taiwanese delegation to attend the inauguration ceremony of United States President-elect Donal Trump scheduled for Friday in Washington, D.C. On arriving, Yu said he planned to convey his congratulations to the president-elect, as well as the desire of Taiwan's people and government for increased cooperation and exchanges with the United States. Yu said he believed the Taiwanese government would seek greater engagement with the new U.S. administration through various...

Taipei (AFP) - Taiwan began two days of military drills Tuesday simulating an attack by China as the government sought to reassure the public in the face of deteriorating relations with Beijing. The island's armed forces gathered in central Taiwan for annual drills that saw troops practise combat skills with tanks, attack helicopters and artillery. "The military has active measures to deal with the situation in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea so the public can rest assured. We will enhance training 365 days a year," defence spokesman Chen Chung-chi said. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a breakaway...

China sent its sole aircraft carrier into the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday morning, Taiwan officials said, a defiant move that signals China’s growing naval strength and may foreshadow an early foreign policy challenge for President-elect Donald J. Trump when he takes office in nine days.

BEIJING — China said Wednesday it was committed to promoting peace and stability in Asia, even as it sent an aircraft carrier battle group through the Taiwan Strait amid heightened tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled island.

Following President-elect Trump's lead in redefining the U.S.-Taiwan relationship, Sen. Ted Cruz on Saturday met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Houston, rejecting a Chinese demand that lawmakers refuse to meet with her. Cruz, who was joined in the meeting by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and a group of Texas legislators, sent a stern message to China in response to a letter by Chinese officials to the Houston congressional delegation asking them not to meet with the Taiwanese leader. "The People's Republic of China needs to understand that, in America, we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves," the...

HOUSTON — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott say they met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen while she was passing through Houston on her way to Central America.