The draft US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 released by the US House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services on Monday suggested the possibility of Taiwan-US joint weapons production. The draft says that a delay in shipping weapons to Taiwan was due to “a cumbersome foreign military sales process and shipping delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Joint weapons production “could expedite the time to initial operating capability and build the capacity of Taiwan to replenish its own stocks in a crisis,” it says. The draft also mentions US concerns over the potential for China to boycott and embargo Taiwan.
Taiwan should do what it can to encourage the US to move forward with the idea of joint weapons production. Domestic production would boost Taiwan’s self-sufficiency, just as the opening of a local F-16 maintenance center in October last year has done. It would also benefit the US, decreasing the logistical burden on the US and potentially allowing Taiwan to help it manufacture weapons for other regional markets like Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
Furthermore, it would facilitate a provision in the current NDAA, which is to establish a “contingency stockpile” of munitions and other defense articles in Taiwan. The US maintains such stockpiles around the world, allowing it to send its military relatively lightly equipped on regional missions and greatly reducing response times, researcher Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said at a defense forum in March.
US President Joe Biden has said on numerous occasions that Washington would defend Taiwan should China attack it, and it would be of great help if Taiwan could produce weapons locally.
China has increased the frequency and scale of its air and naval exercises in the past few years, and some of those drills are believed to be in preparation for assaults on US vessels and facilities. Retired air force lieutenant general Chang Yen-ting (張延廷) told the Central News Agency on Tuesday that a recent Chinese military drill was likely a simulation of an attack on US aircraft carriers the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan. Both carriers are currently taking part in the US-led Large Scale Global Exercise that is being held jointly with Japan, France and Canada.
China moved its aircraft carriers into waters southwest of Taiwan prior to that exercise, in a move believed to be aimed at observing the drills. Beijing is clearly preparing for the contingency of war with the US, and as its recent aggressive acts toward US vessels and aircraft patrolling the Indo-Pacific region show, a conflict between the two nations might erupt ahead of a war involving Taiwan.
Taiwan should leverage its strategic role and seek to bolster its defensive partnership with the US. Taiwan is frequently seen as a recipient of US defense assistance, and the question of whether Washington would commit troops to defending it is often raised. Taiwan should work to change the narrative, emphasizing the role it can play in maintaining regional peace and stability. It is crucial that the Taiwanese military receives training and arms support from the US, but that process should be seen not only as preparation to defend Taiwan, but also to prepare the Taiwanese military to assist like-minded nations in the event of a regional conflict.
China and Russia have presented security concerns for many of Taiwan’s neighbors, raising alarms by patrolling close to South Korean and Japanese territory, and raising tensions in the South China Sea by obstructing the passage of Philippine, Vietnamese and Indonesian vessels. It would be a positive development for Taiwan to participate in producing some of the weapons it uses, but that is just one small way to strengthen Taiwan’s role in regional defense efforts. Taiwan should seek to actively participate in regional defense pacts to show Beijing that countries in the region are united and prepared to resist its hegemony.
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