Representatives from the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and the nation’s three biggest political parties are attending this year’s US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference that began on Sunday in Philadelphia.
Attendees are to discuss five main topics during the event, including China’s “gray zone” activities targeting Taiwan and the potential impact of the the US elections in November, the conference agenda said.
Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) is leading a delegation from the ministry at the conference where he is scheduled to give a keynote address.
Photo: CNA
The conference would also feature a speech from US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Jedidiah Royal.
The US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference is held annually by the US-Taiwan Business Council (USTBC), a US-based nonprofit, which aims to promote business ties between the two countries.
This year’s three-day conference, held from Sunday to today, is “a platform for discussing crucial issues surrounding defense cooperation between the US and Taiwan, aiming to enhance mutual understanding and develop strategic solutions for future challenges,” the organizer’s Web site said.
The conference agenda lists five sessions with titles including “building regional and global coalitions as a threat response,” “resourcing Taiwan’s deterrence & defense efforts” and “beyond a D-Day style scenario.”
The USTBC said the conference — which has been held annually since 2002 — would feature keynote speeches from leading attendees and moderator-led discussions.
In a USTBC news release on Friday, council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said that “US support for Taiwan’s material force modernization has been waning since 2021.”
“It is unclear why the Biden Administration is steadily reducing the value of arms sales to Taiwan,” Hammond-Chambers was quoted as saying, adding that the dollar amount for “security assistance” has “fallen each year since 2022.”
The “gross arms sales value” of US President Joe Biden administration is US$5.71 billion, compared with the US$18.28 billion of one-term former US president Donald Trump’s administration and the US$13.96 billion of two-term former president Barack Obama’s administration, he said.
Washington believes that China would “soften or change aspects of its behavior” if the US reduced its material support for Taiwan, he said, adding “that never happened.”
Hammond-Chambers joined the USTBC in 1994 and was elected its president of it 2020.
He has long since urged the US to do more to boost Taiwan’s defense preparedness.
This year’s US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference comes about a week after the US Department of Defense on Tuesday last week approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan.
The MND said in response that the proposed equipment and services — the 16th US foreign military sale since 2020 — would be useful for “maintaining the combat readiness and safety of various types of aircraft equipment of our air force.”
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