It is up to the US to decide what to do with Taiwan’s decommissioned Hawk anti-aircraft missiles, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday, when asked if they would be transferred to Ukraine.
The US and its allies have provided billions of dollars of arms to Ukraine since Russia attacked the country more than two years ago in what Moscow calls a “special military operation.”
That has included weapons being phased out by some Western nations, such as F-16 jets from the Netherlands.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Speaking to reporters at the Legislative Yuan and responding to a question on whether Taiwan’s decades-old Hawk missiles could go to Ukraine, Koo said the nation no longer needed the weapons and their decommissioning was being handled in accordance with regulations.
DONATION CLAIM
Photo: Reuters
Forbes magazine, citing former Pentagon official Tony Hu (胡振東), on Tuesday reported that Taiwan has donated its surplus Hawk surface-to-air missile batteries to the Ukrainian Air Force.
“If the US side requests that we transfer them back, we will do so in accordance with the regulations and return them, and then the US would decide what to do with them,” Koo said, without elaborating.
Taiwan has offered strong moral support to Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, seeing parallels with the threat Taipei says it faces from China.
Taiwan has not made any public announcements about directly sending weapons to Ukraine.
The defense ministry told the Central News Agency that Koo was referring to specific regulations on the management of military items and equipment, and obsolete military equipment.
Taiwan is in the process of upgrading its own missile defenses, including inking a US$2 billion deal with the US for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) medium-range air defense solutions that includes the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles Extended Range surface-to-air missiles.
WEAPON PURCHASE
The NASAMS has been battle tested in Ukraine and represents a significant increase in air defense capabilities. The US is exporting it to Taiwan as demand for the system surges.
Koo was also asked about a recent Financial Times report saying that Taiwan might be considering a large-scale weapons purchase, including Aegis destroyers, E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, Patriot missiles and F-35 jets, to “show that they are serious” about defending the nation to US president-elect Donald Trump.
Taipei is open to all available options to meet its defensive needs, Koo said.
However, he did not identify any specific weapons systems.
When asked by a lawmaker to comment on Trump’s pick of Fox News host and US Army veteran Pete Hegseth as US secretary of defense, Koo said that Hegseth is relatively young and a strong supporter of “America first.”
The US and Taiwan have a common fundamental interest, he said, adding that with the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars going on, conflict in the Taiwan Strait would be unacceptable.
The continuity of the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait is in both countries’ interest, and Taipei and Washington have common ground in their discussions, Koo said.
Asked by a reporter to comment on Trump having picked Republican Representative Mike Waltz as national security adviser, Koo said he respects the personnel changes in democratic politics.
However, he also wants to express gratitude to Waltz for having led the Foreign Military Sales Technical, Industrial and Governmental Engagement for Readiness (TIGER) Task Force in the House of Representatives last year, which helped accelerate the delivery of weapons purchases to Taiwan, he said.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the two discussed the Russo-Ukrainian war and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. During the meeting, Trump spoke on the implications for world peace of a potential Taiwan-China conflict, which “indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in
RSS