The announcement of a potential US$330 million US arms sale to Taiwan shows Washington’s commitment to helping the country’s military maintain high hardware operational readiness, Rupert Hammond-Chambers, the head of the US-Taiwan Business Council, said in a statement on Friday.
Hammond-Chambers welcomed what would be the first arms sale to Taiwan since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year.
“Bolstering the sustainment of legacy equipment shows our ongoing commitment to helping the Taiwan military achieve high operational rates,” Hammond-Chambers said.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency via AP
The proposed package, announced on Thursday, includes nonstandard components, spare and repair parts, consumables and accessories, and repair and return support for F-16, C-130 and Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft.
The US Department of Defense’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said it has delivered certification notifying the US Congress of the sale, after the proposal was approved by the US Department of State.
Hammond-Chambers said that sustainment packages have long been a part of US security assistance to Taiwan, with 27 such congressional notifications issued since 2001.
“It will be important for Taiwan to receive a mix of US support that includes the maintenance of legacy equipment, coupled with expanded magazines of legacy munitions, as well as missiles and mobile platforms for ground-to-air, ground-to-sea, air-to-air and sea combat,” he said.
Several US experts on Friday said that the parts and equipment are critical to Taiwan’s military readiness amid China’s “gray zone” tactics, adding that as a result frequent Chinese military activity near the nation, Taiwan’s fighter jets require more maintenance.
In an e-mail to the Central News Agency, retired US Navy rear admiral Mark Montgomery described the arms package as important to Taiwan and “vital to military readiness.”
Michael Hunzeker, an associate professor at George Mason University in Virginia, said that the proposed package seems reasonable.
“The Taiwanese air force is bearing the brunt of intercepting and monitoring China’s gray zone provocations,” Hunzeker said. “Its aircraft are therefore wearing out faster than usual and need more maintenance than usual.”
Beijing would likely overreact to the arms sale announcement, potentially leading to a rise in “gray zone” activity after a relatively long period of calm, he said.
John Dotson, director of the Washington-based Global Taiwan Institute, said that the sale looks to be one of a fairly straightforward nature.
“During the first year of Trump 2, the arms sales process for Taiwan appeared to be on hold, likely due to political considerations in the US-China relationship,” Dotson said, adding that the timing of the latest announcement was likely not a coincidence, as it came after the important meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea last month, during which the two leaders agreed to ease mutual trade restrictions and bilateral tensions.
“Arms sales to Taiwan were likely on unofficial hold until after the Trump-Xi meeting at APEC in October, but with that milestone passed, it appears that this sale was cleared to go forward,” he added.
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