Now it is almost certain that the U.S. will refuse Taiwan’s request for the sale of the new F-16C/D fighter jets for Taiwan’s self-defense. While an official announcement on the U.S. Congress’s decision is expected next week, an unnamed senior congressional aide was widely quoted as saying that the deal will include upgrades for Taiwan’s existing F-16s, but not the new fighters that top Taipei’s wish list.
Washington is expected to base its decision on the grounds that new F-16s are not “defense weapons,” but most observers see it as consideration not to irk Beijing, the biggest foreign sovereign holder of U.S. debts and an increasingly important partner to the superpower in international and financial affairs. When U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was snubbed at the emergency summit of EU finance ministers in Poland last week, there were already talks of adding China to the equation in tackling the eurozone debt crisis.
Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas criticized the leaked decision, saying that if proved true it would be “a slap in the face to a strong ally and longtime friend” and “a victory for Beijing.” Taiwan Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu, on the other hand, reiterated the nation’s hope for new fighter jets, stressing an upgrade of the F-16A/B fleet would be an important breakthrough, but the purchase of the F-16C/Ds could not be replaced.
It is strange to see the defense minister of the nation to respond with such tuned-down language compared to a U.S. senator who spoke frankly and directly of Taiwan’s plight.
The problem, however, is that the Taiwanese policymakers might not be totally clear what they want their voices to be. Kao made his comment Saturday after visiting families of three pilots who were killed in a plane crash during a military training mission involving aging F-5 fighter jets. Taiwan had stated that it wants the new jets to replace the outdated F-5s, which are now described as “flying coffins” after the crash. The defense minister could have used the occasion to credibly highlight Taiwan’s need for new fighters, had the Air Force not been seeing “screws coming loose” in its organization as admitted by Air Force Commander Gen. Yen Ming on the same day.
Numerous scandals and accidents involving the armed forces in recent years have shown Taiwan’s military at its low. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) slammed the Kuomintang (KMT) and its Beijing-friendly policies as the main reason behind the low morale among Taiwan’s military.
However, the fact is that while the current cross-strait detente certainty contributes to the military identity crisis it is not the sole reason. Accidents and scandals in the military were not uncommon during the eight years of DPP administration.
The challenges facing Taiwan’s military and its sovereignty are larger than the result of policies by the KMT or the DPP. The military has low morale not mainly because of corrupted officials or bad policies but because of a lack of purpose. While the two main presidential candidates are fighting over opaque terms such as “1992 Consensus” and “Taiwan consensus,” no politician is brave enough to point out that obvious: Future arms sales with the U.S. are only going to become more difficult and Taiwan should be serious in developing its military industry if it wants to protect itself.
With a highly industrialized economy and a strong high-tech industry, Taiwan has the resources it needs to be a formidable player in modern military industry. The defense ministry announcement last year that Taiwan is developing its own unmanned surveillance aircraft is a step in the right direction.
However, with its military budget only to be “not lower than 3 percent of GDP” (as promised by President Ma Ying-jeou), Taiwan will not be able to make substantial progress in building a robust military industry. A move toward military industry building would also no doubt invite strong criticisms, and even threats, from Beijing. Yet it is what needs to be done: A nation is responsible to protect its sovereignty by all means necessary. Taiwan should be pushing for better ties with the mainland while building a strong defense system.
Raising military expenses will, in the short term, hurt cross-strait talks and eat into other policies. However, politicians who truly “love Taiwan,” as they so often proclaim, should make the hard choices to show the Taiwanese people that defending a nation requires effort and sacrifice. They should also assure mainland China that while the Taiwanese people want peace and better ties with China, they are willing to protect their country when necessary.
