Air Superiority:

Also on Taiwan's list must be a survivable fighter fleet: The first targets of a Chinese missile strike will be airfields, and after a first strike Taiwan's advanced fighter fleet will be forced to land on its autobahns. The Pentagon has told Taiwan the ideal aircraft for this threat is the vertical-takeoff F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and has suggested Taiwan sign up as a JSF Security Cooperative Partner (Taiwan is too late for industrial participation) to get a seat at the table and be kept in the loop on the program's progress. This also guarantees Taiwan access to a replacement fighter when they need it. The price of admission to the exclusive JSF club is about $75 million and it comes with the political benefit of being on the JSF roster with several NATO allies and Australia, among others. That alone should be worth it to the diplomatically isolated Island.