Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) was tight-lipped today on reports that Taiwan had donated decommissioned missiles to Ukraine and plans to pursue a significant weapons purchase from Washington.
Forbes, citing former Pentagon official Tony Hu, reported yesterday that Taiwan has donated its surplus HAWK surface-to-air missile batteries to the Ukrainian air force.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Asked about the report on the sidelines of a legislative session in Taipei, Koo said the military no longer needed its decades-old HAWK missiles bought from the US and was handling their decommissioning in accordance with related regulations.
"If the US side asks [us] to transfer them [HAWK missiles] back to them, we will do so in accordance with the relevant regulations and return them to the US. Then the US will decide itself what to do with them," he said, without elaborating.
The Ministry of National Defense said in a separate statement that the regulations Koo was referring to are specific regulations on the management of military items and equipment and the management of obsolete military equipment.
The US is entitled to request that Taiwan's decommissioned US-made weapons systems be transferred back to the US and handle them as they wish, based on related US government rules, the statement said.
Koo was also quizzed about a recent Financial Times report that Taiwan might be considering a large-scale weapons purchase — including Aegis destroyers, E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, Patriot missiles and F-35 jets — to "show that they are serious" about defending Taiwan to the incoming administration led by US president-elect Donald Trump.
He reiterated Taipei's stance that it is open to all available options to meet the nation's defensive needs.
However, Koo refrained from identifying specific weapons systems Taiwan is thinking about procuring from the US or confirming if any of them were those mentioned in the article.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) responded to the report on Monday by saying that Taiwan was not currently engaged in new arms sale discussions.
"While Taiwan and the US have maintained regular discussions and assessments regarding military needs, there are currently no new stages of discussions underway," she said in a statement.
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