The Pentagon should prioritize Taiwan arms deliveries based on risk and need rather than purchase order, US House Armed Services Committee Vice Chairman Rob Wittman said yesterday, warning that late shipments would be meaningless if China acts.
The Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, hosted a seminar called The Digital Front Line: Building a Cyber-Resilient Taiwan yesterday.
The seminar was moderated by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator and Hudson Institute senior fellow Jason Hsu (許毓仁), and featured Wittman, KMT Legislator Chen Yeong-kang (陳永康) and cybersecurity experts.
Photo: Reuters
Wittman, who serves as a US congressman representing a district in the state of Virginia, said that the best deterrence does not necessarily come from good defense, but from good offense.
The “best chance to deter China” is by ensuring they understand what retaliation they would face if they acted, he said.
“We do not want conflict… but weakness invites conflict, while strength deters it,” Wittman said.
Any conflicts in the Taiwan Strait would likely start in cyberspace, making it crucial to deter China in the cyber domain, he said, expressing confidence that the US and Taiwan would build a strong partnership to achieve this.
When Wittman visited Taiwan in 2023, he met with former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and spoke at a press conference about US-Taiwan relations.
After he returned to the US, a fake video created by China used clips from the press conference to portray him as endorsing the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, he said.
Wittman emphasized that US-Taiwan cooperation is not only about hardware and systems, but more importantly about software.
Software would ensure data collected by the US and Taiwan is integrated into Taiwan’s systems and used in real-time to deter China, while simultaneously giving the US more situational awareness, he said.
Regarding the delay of US arms deliveries to Taiwan, Wittman said the Pentagon should determine the delivery order based on risk and need rather than the order of purchase.
Delivering arms after China acts against Taiwan “would be meaningless,” he said.
He added that the Pentagon should be aware of this, as the timely delivery of weapons supports deterrence.
In addition, Wittman said that the US government should accelerate the transfer of technology to Taiwan so it can produce items like consumables and simple equipment itself.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS