Donald Trump’s sale of fighter jets designed in 1970s to Taiwan is spooking China

The potential sale is among several gestures of US support for Taiwan in recent months, even as President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping near a deal to end the costly trade war.

Trump's Sale of Fighter Jets Designed in 1970s Is Spooking China — A Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 fighter jet. (Bloomberg)

By Iain Marlow and Samson Ellis

The US may finally sell Taiwan the warplanes it has sought for more than a decade to defend against China. Their arrival would deal more of a political shock than a military blow to Beijing.

Trump administration officials have given tacit approval to Taipei’s request to buy more than 60 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16s, according to people familiar with the matter, setting the stage for the first such deal since 1992. While a few dozen fighter jets would hardly tip the military balance against the increasingly powerful Chinese military, it would signal a new American willingness to back the democratically run island.