The US government is considering a plan to jointly produce weapons with Taiwan, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported yesterday, citing three sources.
Washington wants to step up production capacity for US-designed arms and speed up their transfer as part of a move to bolster deterrence against China, Nikkei reported.
The report added that a person with direct knowledge of the US government’s deliberations said discussions had begun, while a different source said it was likely to take some time.
Photo: CNA
Possibilities would include the US providing technology to produce weapons in Taiwan, or producing the weapons in the US using Taiwanese parts, the Nikkei added.
Taiwan’s military would be “fully prepared” for any Chinese invasion whether Beijing decides to move up or push back a purported timeline to attack, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday.
Chiu made the remarks before a meeting at the legislature when asked by the media to comment on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying on Monday that Beijing was determined to annex Taiwan on a “much faster timeline.”
Blinken had been speaking with former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice at an event at Stanford University.
“The military knows what it will have to do, whether in the next second or the next hour, while preparing for war. It will not sit idly by whether Beijing moves up or pushes back [its timeline to invade Taiwan]. It will have its own timeline, and it will pay attention to signs and make forecasts about possible developments accordingly,” the minister said.
Chiu reiterated the need for the military to defend itself if it sustained a “first strike” from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
“If someone tries to push you, you must dodge or deflect him,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder on Tuesday said the US would continue to focus on deterring China from taking military action against Taiwan in response to reporters’ questions about whether China had moved up a purported timeline to invade Taiwan.
CIA Deputy Director David Cohen last month said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had ordered the PLA to have the capability to take control of Taiwan by force by 2027.
US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl on Aug. 8 said that the Pentagon had not changed its assessment that China would not take Taiwan by force in the next few years.
During Tuesday’s press briefing, Ryder was asked whether the Pentagon’s assessment had changed following Blinken’s remarks.
Ryder said that the Pentagon would not speculate on a timeline other than highlighting recent remarks by Xi that China would take Taiwan by force if necessary.
The US’ focus is on preserving stability and security throughout the Indo-Pacific region and would continue to concentrate on “deterring possible military action and calling on both sides to resolve these [sovereignty] issues peacefully” under Washington’s “one China” policy, he said.
In related news, troops stationed in Penghu County conducted live-fire drills early yesterday morning that involved artillery and tanks.
The drills, a standard monthly exercise, began with the firing of flares using 105mm and 155mm howitzers and 81mm and 120mm mortars. Troops also fired .50 cal machine guns and M249 light machine guns.
The drill concluded with M60A3 battle tanks and CM21 armored vehicles firing into the sea in a display of the army’s defensive capabilities.
The exercises were held based on a scenario involving the Chinese military sending warplanes and warships toward Penghu after conducting live-fire drills around Taiwan proper.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
RSS