TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An election victory by Democratic candidate Joe Biden will not lead to changes in the plan for Asia Pacific’s first F-16 maintenance and repair center, Taiwan’s economics minister said Thursday (Nov. 5).

The facility was officially opened in August in Taichung, but state-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC, 漢翔) and F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin are still in the process of forming a team to conduct the maintenance work, according to the Liberty Times.

Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) rejected rumors that a Biden administration might have second thoughts about the project. The center had won the full support of the United States while the policy of arms sales to Taiwan was based on a bipartisan consensus, Wang said. Taiwan-U.S. cooperation in the aeronautics sector is likely to continue unabated as part of a strategic partnership between the two nations.

Taiwan hopes the center can attract business from other Asian countries that operate F-16 jets, as repairing them in Taiwan will save time and money. The alternative would be to send their F-16s to the U.S. for repair, which would be far more costly. The Taiwanese Air Force has 142 F-16 fighter jets in the process of being upgraded, while it has also bought 66 more advanced F-16V “Viper” jets.