Taiwan Finally Buys P-3s

After six years of political maneuvering, the Taiwanese legislature has approved the purchase of twelve U.S. P-3C maritime patrol (and anti-submarine) aircraft, as well as updates for its Patriot anti-missile systems.

Since 2001, the United States has been offering Taiwan an $18 billion package of weapons, including 66 F-16s.

But Taiwanese politics has prevented the legislature from accepting the offer. The problem is that, in the last ten years, the native Taiwanese have dethroned the Nationalist Party, which took control of Taiwan in 1948, after losing control of China to the communists.

The Nationalists were always a minority on Taiwan, and the native Taiwanese resented it, even though many joined the Nationalist party. But in the 1990s, they lost their absolute control of the government, as the Nationalists allowed democracy to take over completely.

Read more