By Ann Wang
TAITUNG, Taiwan, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The first two of a batch of 66 new F-16V Block 70 fighter jets ordered in 2019 arrived in Taiwan on Friday after months of delays, helping to strengthen an air force that has to scramble almost daily to shadow China's military.
Taiwan faces a rising military threat from Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory. Taipei has complained of repeated delays to weapons ordered from the United States, its most important international
backer and arms supplier.
The delivery, to Taitung's Chihhang Air Base on the island's mountainous east coast, comes amid growing concern in Taiwan about the Trump administration's commitment to arming Taipei, despite Washington saying there has been no change in policy.
The aircraft, which flew via Hawaii and Guam, touched down at noon (0400 GMT).
Speaking to reporters at parliament in Taipei shortly before, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said there would be other new F-16Vs arriving soon, though he did not give details.
"Of course we won't only have delivered these two by year-end," he said.
The United States in 2019 approved an $8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16V fighter jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the island's F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets. But issues including software problems have delayed delivery of the planes.
The arrival of the first two aircraft came almost exactly a week after US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington.
Trump said in May, after meeting Xi in Beijing, that he was holding a new $14 billion package for Taiwan in abeyance, though he did approve one worth $11 billion in December 2025.
CHINA THREAT LEVEL
US officials believe a Chinese invasion of Taiwan before 2028 is increasingly unlikely, people familiar with US thinking told Reuters. Taiwan holds its next presidential election in early 2028.
"China's intention to annex Taiwan by force has never changed," Koo said.
The F-16Vs have advanced avionics, weapons and radar systems to better counter the Chinese air force, including its stealthy J-20 fighters, though Washington has been unwilling to provide Taiwan its most advanced fighters like the F-22 or F-35.
An upgrade programme for Taiwan's existing F-16s was completed in 2023.
The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but the two have no formal diplomatic relations.
Beijing has repeatedly told Washington to stop arming Taiwan. The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the arrival of the F-16s.
"We continue standing with friends and allies across the Indo-Pacific to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values — that includes Taiwan," a US State Department spokesperson said when asked about the new F-16s.
(Reporting by Ann Wang in Taitung, Fabian Hamacher in Taipei and Ben Blanchard in Kaohsiung; Editing by Tom Hogue)
