The US government is expected to release new guidelines to help expedite transfers of defense technology to its partners, including Taiwan, the head of the US-Taiwan Business Council said on Tuesday.
The revisions to defense and state department guidelines seek to expedite “consideration and then releasability” of defense tech products, Rupert Hammond-Chambers said, without elaborating, at the annual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Ellicott City, Maryland.
Defense manufacturers delivering their orders on time is an issue stressed by Taiwanese and US representatives at the three-day conference, which began on Sunday, Hammond-Chambers told reporters.
Photo: CNA
However, the codevelopment and coproduction of weapons — which some lawmakers, including US Senator Roger Wicker, have voiced support for — would not provide a quick solution to delayed arms sales, he said.
“If you need things quickly, the logical thing to do is buy something off the shelf. If you have time, then you can ask for a tech transfer” to take that technology and adapt it for your purposes, he said.
Hammond-Chambers also previewed what arms purchases Taiwan could make under its defense budget for next year, as well as a special defense budget of up to NT$1 trillion (US$32.54 billion) that is expected to be announced next month.
Taiwan would likely seek technology related to the “T-Dome” — a multilayered air defense system President William Lai (賴清德) proposed earlier this month — as well as asymmetric warfare capabilities, he said.
Given the volume of spending available, Taiwan “will also have opportunities to address gray zone and blockade” concerns, and acquire more traditional platforms, such as mobile artillery and helicopters, he said.
On the political front, Hammond-Chambers downplayed the possibility of a US policy change if US President Donald Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Beijing has reportedly been pushing the US to change its official policy to state that it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, rather than merely “not supporting” it.
On such topics, the US and China tend to “talk past each other,” with each side stating its demands, before moving onto issues that they might make some headway on, such as tariffs and a trade deal, Hammond-Chambers said.
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