The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) has denied that the emergency landing of two US F-18 fighter jets in Taiwan carries any political message. The AIT is the de facto US embassy in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations.
The two fighter jets made an emergency landing at a Taiwanese air force base Wednesday due to a mechanical problem on one of the aircraft. US maintenance personnel arrived in Taiwan late Thursday and completed repair work Friday morning. The two fighters left for their base in Okinawa after the repairs were completed.
The landing of the F-18s was a rarity because the US does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan and its military aircraft do not use air bases in Taiwan. Some people speculate that the US is sending a political message to Taiwan and China, while others say that this shows a further improvement of Taiwan-US relations. However, the AIT denied such rumors, saying that the incident was over a mechanical glitch.