An expert in Asian security affairs is calling on US President Barack Obama to sell more arms to Taiwan.
In a plea published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Shirley Kan said the president has “failed to exercise leadership” by not selling much-needed weapons.
Kan, who recently retired from the US Congressional Research Service, has written a personal analysis of Obama’s policy on arms sales to Taiwan and says that the policy needs “credibility and clarity.”
Considered to be one of Washington’s best-informed experts on US policy on Taiwan, Kan was not free to express her own views until now.
“US leadership and credibility regarding the rebalance to Asia requires decisive, urgent action regarding Taiwan,” she wrote.
“That policy should include tangible follow-up actions to support Taiwan, maintain stability in the Asia-Pacific and help Taiwan avoid coercion and conflict,” Kan wrote.
Obama has failed to notify the US Congress of major foreign military sales to Taiwan for almost four years.
“As Congress will soon recess in August, the president has an imperative to submit arms sales for Congressional review,” she wrote.
She says that Obama’s “inaction” cannot be explained by a lack of defensive requirements, by a lack of interest and funding in Taiwan or by military-to-military contacts with China.
Kan said that leaves three other explanations: a shift in policy, a decision to wait until after a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in September or that the administration is timing the arms sales to influence the presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan scheduled for January.
“To dispel dangerous perceptions that the administration is at odds with US principles, policies and laws, Obama should now submit the pending notifications to Congress for major arms sales to Taiwan,” she wrote.
In particular, Kan is calling for Obama to notify Congress now that he is transferring two Perry-class frigates to Taiwan — an arms sale that has already been approved by Capitol Hill.
Kan said that at the same time, the president should give “a straight answer” to Congress, industry and Taiwan on whether to assist Taiwan’s diesel-electric submarine program.
“This option involves the approval or denial of technical assistance for Taiwan’s indigenous defense programs,” she wrote.
“The president should finalize decisionmaking to determine if Taiwan needs new fighters to replace aging aircraft,” Kan said. “Finally, Obama should review policy with transparency, consultation with Congress and coordination with allies, examining whether a new approach is needed to accommodate changing circumstances in the Taiwan Strait.”
Kan said that the Congress has ways to ensure presidential compliance with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
It could write letters to elicit explanations about pending actions, consider legislation to require reports on the TRA’s implementation or hold up confirmations of nominees in the US Department of Defense or Department of State, she said.
“Along with restricting funds for spending for military contacts with China, especially as the Pentagon doubles down on such contacts, Congress could shift such spending for use in military cooperation with Taiwan,” Kan wrote.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as