Senior Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representatives held talks in the US this week on Taiwan’s national security and a greater role for its indigenous defense industry.
Following the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference earlier in the week in Williamsburg, Virginia, the officials met with US defense industry executives, Washington officials and think tank academics.
DPP Representative to the US and Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and New Frontier Foundation Defense Policy Advisory Committee Convener York Chen (陳文政) told a press conference on Thursday that their conversations had been “very fruitful.”
Citing diplomatic sensitivities, they refused to identify who they met, but Wu said cross-strait relations were discussed and the US wanted the DPP to be a “predictable and stable partner.”
He said they also talked about trade issues and other aspects of US-Taiwan relations.
“The US side is more interested and curious about what defense policy would look like under a DPP administration,” Chen said.
He said that while there was a broad consensus on defense policy, the DPP differed from the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in that the DPP not only supports the building of indigenous submarines, but also wants to develop the domestic defense industry to play a major role in producing most other needed weapons systems.
Chen called for more links and interactions between Taiwan and US defense industries.
“We would like to see greater interaction between private-sector contractors in Taiwan and the defense industry in the US,” he said.
Chen said that kind of cooperation at the management and technical levels does not yet exist.
Wu said the DPP was trying to focus more on gaining US assistance for indigenous production of a wide range of weapons systems and that, while no commitments had been made, he felt that constructive steps had been taken.
He said that the DPP wanted to bolster self-defense well beyond the production of indigenous submarines, to include fighter planes and most other weapons systems.
“It would provide us with self-reliance, not having to depend on others. There is much we can do by ourselves,” Wu said. “Taiwan is facing tremendous difficulties in buying some of the key weapons we need for defense.”
Wu said the DPP wanted to enhance the nation’s industrial capabilities to improve self-defense and that such a move would be beneficial to both Taiwan and the US.
“Taiwan needs to have the defense capability to maintain peace and stability in East Asia, and that will be a win-win formula for Taiwan and the US,” he said.
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