Taiwan president voices concern about Hu's visit to the US

Jan 17, 2011, 7:39 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Monday voiced concern about Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to the United States, and repeated his desire for the US to sell updated F-16 warplanes to Taipei.

Ma communicated his concerns to Arthur C Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy, an influential US think tank.

'Hu Jintao will start visiting the US tomorrow. Although Taiwan is not the most important topic on his agenda, our government is still very concerned,' he said.

Faced with China's military modernization, Taiwan said it feels the F-16 A/Bs are outdated and Taipei urgently needs to acquire the more advanced F-16 C/Ds as well as other modern weapons.

Hu is scheduled to visit the US from January 18-21. He is expected to raise Taiwan in talks with President Barack Obama as China has been demanding that Washington halt arms sales to Taipei, calling them the main obstacle to China-Taiwan unification.

Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

The US switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1969, but signed the Taiwan Relations Act, pledging to maintain trade ties with Taipei and to continue to sell Taipei defensive arms.

The US approved the sale of 150 F-16 A/Bs to Taiwan in 1992 to boost the island's self-defence.

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