Taiwan commissions advanced new F-16s 

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen yesterday lauded military cooperation with Washington as she commissioned the first combat wing of F-16 fighters upgraded with US help to bolster the island's defences during rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing. Tsai told a ceremony at an air base in the southern Taiwanese city of Chiayi to unveil the first squadron of its most advanced F-16s, the F-16V, that the project showed the firm commitment of the Taiwan-US partnership. The United States has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is the island's main international backer and arms supplier, to Beijing's fury.