There has been no indication that the US is to pause or alter arms sales to Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, after Washington placed a hold on weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.
The ministry is keeping an eye on reports regarding suspension of arms sales to certain countries, but has yet to see Taiwan come up, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said during a news briefing in Taipei.
Ou said that communication between Taiwan and the US has been smooth, adding that Taipei has not received notice from Washington about a change in arms sales.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
On the contrary, it has been repeatedly hearing reassurances from multiple channels that the US remains committed to Taiwan, with the US Department of State on Saturday last week issuing an official statement calling the commitment of US President Joe Biden’s administration’s “rock solid,” she added.
Washington had during the administration of former US president Donald Trump over the past four years announced 11 arms sales to Taiwan, including five packages in the second half of last year that included 11 high Mobility Artillery Rocket System M142 launchers, 100 Harpoon coastal defense systems and four MQ-9B uncrewed aerial vehicles.
All Washington’s arms sales to Taipei are under way per relevant procedure, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Shih Shun-wen (史順文) said.
Concern over weapons sales to Taiwan arose following reports that Washington had put a temporary hold on some of its largest pending arms sales, including a Trump administration effort to sell F-35 jets to the UAE and smart bombs to Saudi Arabia.
The US Department of State is pausing the implementation of those agreements and others to allow the new Biden administration an opportunity to determine whether they meet current US objectives, said a department official, who asked not to be identified.
The official characterized the pause as routine. It was not clear how long it may be in place.
The hold includes one on the UAE’s long-sought effort to acquire Lockheed Martin Corp-built F-35 jets, a request that was granted in the final months of the Trump administration after the Gulf nation signed a peace deal with Israel.
The US Congress has already cleared the arms agreement, although even without the latest delay, it could take years to finalize.
The Biden administration would likely be loath to cancel the UAE deal because it could put at risk that nation’s peace agreement with Israel — a Trump administration accomplishment that has been praised by Biden.
The UAE deal includes US$10.4 billion for 50 F-35A jets, US$10 billion for different models of air-to-ground missiles and other munitions, and US$2.9 billion for 19 MQ-9 Reaper drones capable of carrying munitions plus ground equipment.
The US pause also includes a hold on issuing a formal commercial license to Raytheon Technologies Corp to sell Saudi Arabia 7,500 precision-guided, air-to-ground munitions valued at US$478 million. Raytheon can sell the weapons directly to the Saudi Arabian government after receiving the license.
Raytheon officials previewed the sales pause to analysts on Tuesday during the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings call, though they did not name the country or munitions involved.
“We had assumed that we were going to get a license to provide these offensive weapon systems to our customer... [but] with the change in administration, it becomes less likely that we’re going to be able to get a license for this and so we appropriately decided that we could no longer support the booking of that contract” as a sale, Raytheon CEO Gregory Hayes said.
Included in the pending sale are Raytheon’s Paveway IV smart bomb, the most advanced version of which includes inertial navigation/GPS and laser-guidance for all-weather attacks.
The US had sold about 8,000 earlier model Paveways as part of a 2015 deal that included about 5,000 other munitions.
Additional reporting by Wu Shu-wei
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
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
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
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