The US Department of State on Thursday vowed to ensure timely delivery of arms sold to Taiwan, a promise echoed by a top US official at the legislature in Taipei yesterday.
On Wednesday, US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy told a news conference after his meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Los Angeles that the US “must continue the arms sales to Taiwan and make sure such sales reach Taiwan on a very timely basis.”
US Representative Mike Gallagher, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, told the same event that he would look for ways to get Harpoon anti-ship missiles to Taiwan ahead of those scheduled to go to Saudi Arabia.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
Asked about the statements at a separate news conference on Thursday, US Department of State spokesman Vedant Patel said that “the US government is actively reviewing our policies and processes to ensure that we move arm sales as quickly as possible, particularly for Taiwan.”
The US provides Taiwan with “defense articles and services necessary to enable and maintain a sufficient self-defense capability” in line with its Taiwan Relations Act, Patel said.
However, “I’m not going to just get ahead of any specific processes just yet,” he said.
Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are global interests, he said, calling on Beijing to “cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan, and instead engage in meaningful diplomacy.”
In Taipei yesterday, US Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, told lawmakers that it is important to harden Taiwan by enhancing and reprioritizing sales of weapons to the nation.
Expediting the delivery of the weapons he has signed off on “is critically important,” as Taiwan is a high-risk area that is constantly threatened, McCaul told a news conference.
McCaul is leading a cross-party delegation on a three-day visit to Taiwan. The delegation is to meet with Tsai today after her scheduled return from the US yesterday.
Third-party sales are also an option, McCaul said, adding that “we are doing everything in our power to exercise this” delivery to provide deterrence for Taiwan and promote peace in the region.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs last year passed the Arms Exports Delivery Solutions Act, requiring the US state and defense departments to report to the US Congress on transfers of defense articles and services, including approved transfers to Taiwan.
The committee is to uncover reasons for any delivery delays and “will expedite ways to provide the arms that Taiwan needs to defend yourself,” US Representative Young Kim, who introduced the act with McCaul, said at the legislature.
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