Taiwan’s planned increase to next year’s defense budget, although a step in the right direction, is insufficient to deter China’s threat, US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs (IPSA) David Helvey said on Tuesday.
Helvey, who is performing the duties of US assistant secretary of defense for IPSA, made the remarks during the closing keynote speech of a two-day US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, a transcript released by the US-Taiwan Business Council showed.
The “existential threat Taiwan faces from China” is a focal topic for the conference and at the core of the Pentagon’s work in the Indo-Pacific region, Helvey said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
While President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has proposed adding US$1.4 billion to next year’s defense budget as part of its steps to bolster the nation’s self-defense, the increase is insufficient, he said.
He advised Taiwan to invest in “large numbers of small capabilities,” saying that it should acquire as many highly mobile coastal defense cruise missiles as possible, both foreign and indigenously produced.
Taiwan also needs to strengthen its reserve forces to ensure that brigades can support local and county agencies in a crisis, he added.
Helvey also called on Taiwan and the US to jointly develop and produce defense capabilities.
Taiwan’s homegrown weapons platforms can be further enhanced through US-built technologies to improve their mobility, survivability and lethality, he said.
Giving an example, he said the US could provide vehicles that could accommodate and increase the mobility of the Tien Kung III surface-to-air missiles designed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology.
Highlighting Taiwan’s leading position in the global semiconductor industry, he said nearly 47 percent of US-designed chips are made by Taiwanese companies.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) plan to build a wafer plant in Arizona is a “game changer” for the US semiconductor industry and national security, Helvey said.
Bilateral cooperation would not be limited to use by the Taiwanese or US militaries, but apply to the entire supply chain, including suppliers of chips, widgets and other types of enabling technologies that are fused in defense capabilities, he said.
Helvey reiterated the US’ commitment to its “one China” policy, but added that the US would continue to provide Taiwan with defense articles and services necessary to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability, as consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques between Washington and Beijing, and the “six assurances.”
Meanwhile, the New York Times on Tuesday reported that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s softened attitude toward China, after brokering a trade deal with Beijing in January, has become an obstacle for US lawmakers and officials keen to begin trade talks with Taiwan.
A bilateral trade agreement between Taiwan and the US would be crucial for Taiwan’s economic and strategic development in the long run, and signing such a deal is a priority for the government’s diplomatic efforts, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement yesterday.
The government is communicating with different US sectors, hoping to urge the US Trade Representative to reach a consensus with the White House, the US Department of State, the US Department of Commerce and other pertinent agencies to start negotiations with Taiwan, she said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique