The US might propose military cooperation with Taiwan, a military official said, citing US Vice President Mike Pence’s harsh criticism of China.
In remarks delivered on Thursday at the Hudson Institute on US policy regarding China, Pence criticized Beijing, saying it is threatening stability across the Taiwan Strait and is using economic aggression to extend its global reach.
The official, who declined to be named, said that Pence’s criticism of China was an assurance to US allies in the Western Pacific that Washington would continue to maintain security in the region.
Photo: AP
It is likely that concrete and substantial US action would follow, the official said.
The action is likely to take the form of military exchanges, probably on an unprecedented scale, “exceeding Taiwan’s expectations,” the official said.
US President Donald Trump on Aug. 13 signed the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, which contains provisions favorable to Taiwan’s defense.
The legislation says that the US should bolster defense and security cooperation with Taiwan; support the nation’s acquisition of defensive weapons through foreign military sales, direct commercial sales and industrial cooperation; and improve the predictability of arms sales to Taiwan by ensuring timely review of and response to requests for defense articles and services.
The legislation also suggests that the US secretary of defense send a hospital ship to Taiwan as part of the annual Pacific Partnership mission to improve disaster response planning and preparedness.
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Sept. 24 said that the US Department of State had approved a proposal to sell US$330 million in arms to Taiwan to upgrade the nation’s defense capabilities.
The sale is to cover standard spare parts, as well as the repair or replacement of spare parts for Republic of China Air Force aircraft, such as its General Dynamics F-16s, Lockheed C-130s, Northrop F-5s, and Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (漢翔航空工業) Indigenous Defense Fighters.
The military official cited CNN reports as saying that the US plans a show of force next month in areas near Chinese-claimed territory in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
If true, such a move would be in line with the intent of Pence’s speech, the official said.
The plans would not only serve as a warning to Beijing, but also as a message that Chinese efforts to prevent the US from aiding its allies in the Western Pacific are doomed to fail, the official said, quoting Pence.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
RSS