The Taiwan Airpower Modernization Act (TAMA) was submitted today for Congressional review and passage by Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Robert Menendez of New Jersey. The object of the Act is to assist the Obama Administration in meeting the obligations encompassed in the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) – to provide Taiwan with weapons of a defensive nature to meet the growing threat from China. The TAMA would legislate selling 66 or more F-16 C/D fighter jets to Taiwan, and the US-Taiwan Business Council urges Congress to pass the Act.
The balance of power in the Taiwan Strait is an essential aspect of Americas’ Asia Pacific foreign policy. As China continues to invest heavily in expanding and modernizing its military capabilities, passage of the Taiwan Airpower Modernization Act would provide Taiwan with badly needed replacement F-16 fighters, thereby bringing the U.S. government back into compliance with the TRA.
Council President Rupert Hammond-Chambers said that “TAMA will enjoy broad bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both chambers recently released letters in support of the F-16 C/D sale, with significant numbers of signatories from both parties. This strong Congressional support for the sale represents the foundation for TAMA, as well as a path to passage of the Act.”
Hammond-Chambers went on to note, “this Act and this sale is a win-win for the national security interests of both the United States and Taiwan, as the new fighters would address part of the airpower imbalance by modernizing Taiwan’s fighter fleet. The sale also plays a vital role for the United States, in expanding forward-deployed capacity building with a key Asia Pacific security partner.”
US-Taiwan Business Council Urges Congress to Pass the Taiwan Airpower Modernization Act (TAMA) (PDF file)