Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague from Indiana. I would like to respond briefly to the Senator from Massachusetts. This isn't an assessment I have made that Taiwan needs these aircraft; this is one made by the Department of Defense in their 2011 report on China's growing military power. They detailed the increasingly precarious situation in the Taiwan Strait, stating that China seeks the capability to deter Taiwan independence and influence Taiwan to settle the dispute on Beijing's terms. So it is clear from the press reports from China's state-run newspaper, the very bellicose comments, that this is really an attempt by mainland China, the People's Republic of China, to intimidate not only Taiwan but also the United States, and we should not give in to that intimidation. This chart which I pointed to earlier demonstrates the growing imbalance in the Taiwan Strait. This is why these additional aircraft are needed. The red one is 2,300 operational combat aircraft for the People's Republic of China versus 490 operational combat aircraft for the Taiwanese. The Senator from Massachusetts is correct to the extent that the upgrades are welcome on the 145 F-16s we previously sold to Taiwan. But it is not adequate because 100 of these aircraft currently operational by Taiwan are obsolete and are going to be retired. Taiwan has intended that the new F-16C/D series replace the fleet of F-5s--those were previously sold U.S.…”