TAIPEI: The United States State Department has approved the possibility of the sale of US $428 million in aircraft parts for Taiwan to help its air force, which is strained from repeatedly intercepting Chinese jets operating close to the island.
Taiwan's air force is well-equipped but ageing, and dwarfed by that of China's. Beijing considers the democratically governed island as its territory and has been flying daily sorties near Taiwan for the past three years or so.
Since August, when China held war games around Taiwan after the visit to Taipei by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, China's air force has frequently crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which had served as an unofficial boundary.
The Pentagon said in two statements late Tuesday that the parts would support Taiwan's F-16 s, Indigenous Defence Fighter jets and all other aircraft and systems or subsystems of US origin.