F-16s for Taiwan: Four Decades of US Arms Sales and the China Threat

A timeline tracing the arc from the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and the 1982 Six Assurances through the 1996 Strait crisis, the long freeze on new fighter sales, the 2019 approval of F-16V Block 70 aircraft, and the successive deliveries that culminate in the current shipment — set against China's escalating military pressure and Taiwan's shifting confidence in US commitment. The through-line is how each arms package became a diplomatic flashpoint, a test of deterrence, and a domestic political fight in Washington, Taipei and Beijing. This timeline was generated automatically by TimeStrands AI from Wikipedia research. Facts are sourced; framing may be imperfect.