Washington on Wednesday announced US$11.1 billion in potential arms sales to Taiwan, the largest-ever US weapons package to the nation.
It is the second announcement of arms sales to Taiwan by US President Donald Trump’s administration since he returned to the White House in January.
The proposed sales would cover eight items, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), howitzers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Altius loitering munition drones and parts for other equipment, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said that it had delivered the required certifications notifying the US Congress of the sales, following approval by the US Department of State.
The sales serve US “national, economic and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The ministry yesterday thanked Washington for its continued efforts to help Taiwan maintain its self-defense capabilities under the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances.”
The packages are at the congressional notification stage, which is where the US Congress has a chance to block or alter their sale, although Taiwan has widespread cross-party support, the ministry said.
Five of the eight arms packages — the M109A7 howitzers, HIMARS rocket systems, TOW (tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided) 2B anti-tank missiles, anti-armor drones and FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles — are covered by a NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget that the Executive Yuan put forward last month. The budget is pending lawmakers’ review.
The latest package also includes Harpoon missile repair follow-on support; TOW missile systems; AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts; and Tactical Mission Network Software, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
Weapons such as the HIMARS, which have been used extensively by Ukraine against Russian forces, could play an essential role in destroying an invading Chinese force, US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said.
“This bundle of congressional notifications, a record in US security assistance for Taiwan, is a response to the threat from China and the demand from Mr Trump that partners and allies do more to secure their own defense,” he said.
The announcement follows an unannounced trip by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) to the Washington area last week to meet with US officials, said two sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Reuters was unable to determine the agenda of the meetings and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.
Lin in a statement yesterday thanked Washington for the proposed arms sale, saying that it demonstrates the US’ commitment to enhancing Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, as highlighted in the latest National Security Strategy Washington released earlier this month.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) also expressed gratitude to the US, saying the move has again showed that Washington is implementing its security commitments to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances.”
Taiwan’s defense budget for next year is set to exceed 3 percent of GDP in line with NATO standards, with expectations that it would reach 5 percent by 2030, she said.
The government has also proposed a special budget to enhance defense resilience and asymmetric warfare capabilities, she said.
President William Lai (賴清德) last month announced the NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget, with the funds to be allocated from next year to 2033, saying that there was “no room for compromise on national security.”
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday reminded lawmakers that part of the procurement list is included in the special defense budget, urging the Legislative Yuan to review it as soon as possible.
National security transcends party lines, DPP caucus chief executive Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said, adding that he hoped the ruling and opposition parties would conduct reviews in unison.
Every item in the arms package, which was not easily approved by the US, is crucial to Taiwan’s national defense security, he said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
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