US Senator Dan Sullivan has proposed a bill that would place Taiwan on the US’ priority list for arms sale deliveries, amid reports of a US$19 billion backlog.
“My bill is a simple matter of priorities,” Sullivan said of the bill he cosponsored with Republican US Senator Rick Scott on Tuesday, adding that the goal was to “match our priorities to our rhetoric by putting Taiwan at the head of the queue.”
“We have delivery dates for the US$19 billion in weapons that Taiwan has bought — not gifted, but bought — stretching out to the end of the decade,” he said on Thursday.
Photo: REUTERS
“Everyone in Washington agrees that Taiwan is under dire, immediate threat from the Chinese Communist Party,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan’s bill, which does not yet have a name, would require the US secretary of defense to “ensure the delivery of defense articles and services to Taiwan ahead of the delivery of substantially similar articles and services to any other foreign military sales customer.”
However, the bill states that deliveries to Taiwan must not cause delays in the delivery of similar defense articles or services to Ukraine or Israel.
The US government has said disruption to supply chains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and an increased demand for weaponry in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the slow delivery of arms to Taiwan.
US media reported that as of the end of last year, the backlog in deliveries of US defense articles to Taiwan under the Foreign Military Sales program was worth about US$19 billion, including Harpoon anti-ship missiles and F-16 jets.
As part of efforts to reduce that backlog, the US at the end of last month delivered a batch of Stinger missiles to Taiwan that was related to a US$223.56 million arms sale originally approved in 2019, a US Department of State spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.
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