Washington sources told the Taipei Times that Wang Yi (王毅), director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, left Washington “disappointed” following a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg this week, during which he tried to persuade the US to end arms sales to Taiwan.
Two sources said Wang Yi argued that greatly improved relations across the Taiwan Strait meant that the chances of military confrontation were dramatically reduced and that Taiwan no longer needed to increase defenses, adding that if the US went ahead with the sales it would have a strong negative impact on China-US relations.
But the US side replied that China’s own military buildup and failure to reduce the large missile force Beijing has aimed at Taiwan did not give Washington much confidence in Wang’s argument.
One source said: “The US response was that: ‘We don’t arm Taiwan to turn it into an offensive threat, we arm Taiwan in response to the PLA force modernization and the threat it poses to Taiwan.’”
While the US did not reveal its plans for arms sales to Taiwan, it gave the clear impression that future sales were under serious consideration.
This meeting came as a new report from the Project 2049 Institute — a Washington-based think tank — said: “Over the next two to three months, senior non-Cabinet officials from Taiwan will come to the United States to discuss arms sales and a broad range of ties.”
The report says that while President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is publicly prioritizing the procurement of US F-16 C/D fighter aircraft, “some lend credibility to the notion that there exists a lack of consistency between what the KMT [Chinese Nationalist Party] advocates in public and in private.”
It also said: “The Taiwanese should prepare for senior level defense meetings with the United States, even if they have limited time to discuss budgetary issues.”
“The United States DOD [Department of Defense] and DOS [Department of State] should work towards arriving at a consensus by this summer regarding Taiwan’s specific defense needs. It must also ascertain what the KMT administration is actually willing to purchase,” it said. “Having learned from the mistakes of the [former US president George W.] Bush administration, the [US President Barack] Obama administration is unlikely to expend political capital offering expensive and comprehensive weapons packages to the Taiwanese only to subsequently witness them balk at actually procuring the systems.”
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, head of the US-Taiwan Business Council in Washington, stressed that the timeline for arms sales would be affected by other issues.
There will be no significant developments until the Senate confirms Kurt Campbell as the Obama administration’s new assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs. That will probably happen in the next two weeks, and when it does he will run the weapons sales program and become the “key guy,” he said.
Through next month and August, Campbell and his team will assess where they stand with present programs and develop a recommendation on selling F-16s.
That recommendation will go to the State Department, the Pentagon and the White House in early September, but Obama is unlikely to make a decision and send it forward for Congressional approval until he returns from a planned trip to China, he said.
Insiders say the trip will probably take place in mid-November and the proposed arms sales will then go to Congress for approval in late November or early December.
Washington sources said that Taiwan would likely be offered the helicopters and the F-16s it wants, but that it was unlikely a submarine package would be worked out this year.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
RSS