In December 2016, when he had just been elected President of the United States against Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump attracted the wrath of Beijing for having questioned the principle of “one China” by having had a telephone interview with Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan.
“We have already conveyed a solemn protest to the relevant American side. We must emphasize the fact that there is only one China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded. To which Mr. Trump responded with irony. “The United States sells billions of dollars of military equipment to Taiwan but I should not accept a congratulatory call” from the Taiwanese president, he argued.
Subsequently, contrasting with the attitude of Barack Obama's administration, keen to spare China, that of Mr. Trump authorized Taiwan to obtain all the military equipment necessary for the modernization of its armed forces, including 108 M1A2 tanks. Abrams, 11 M142 HIMARS artillery systems [avec les munitions associées]66 F-16 Vipers, MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, 135 AGM-84 SLAM ER cruise missiles [Standoff Land Attack Missile / Expanded Response]400 RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles, 100 Harpoon coastal defense systems [HCDS]1.649 missiles anti-char [dont 1.240 Javelin et 409 Tow] and 250 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
Finally, for good measure, the Trump administration also provided aid for Taiwan's future submarine program.
However, the return of Mr. Trump to the White House, after winning the last presidential elections hands down, worries Taiwanese officials. At issue: his statements about the semiconductor manufacturer TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co]…as well as on the island's defense policy.
“Taiwan should pay [les Etats-Unis] for his defense. You know, we're a bit like an insurance company. Taiwan gives us nothing,” Mr. Trump declared last July.
Should we see a link with the arms projects currently being prepared by the Taiwanese government? This is what the Financial Times puts forward, according to which “informal discussions” are already underway with Mr. Trump’s teams. There would be questions of purchases of American military equipment for a total amount exceeding 15 billion dollars.
Thus, the orders considered by Taipei could include 400 Patriot air defense missiles, the AEGIS combat system, 10 second-hand ships [des Littoral Combat Ship ?]4 E-2D Avdanced Hawker air surveillance planes and, above all, 60 F-35 fighter-bombers.
The interest of the Taiwanese general staff in the F-35 is not new. However, he had to give it up, mainly for budgetary reasons, and settle for 66 F-16 Vipers. At the time, he expressed a desire for short-takeoff, vertical-landing fighter jets [STOVL]like the F-35B, in order to be able to continue to act in the event that its air bases are targeted by Chinese missiles and bombers.
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