The US and Taiwan are “100 percent” committed to jointly manufacturing weapons, but the complexities involved in such an arrangement could pose challenges, a defense expert said on Tuesday.
There is a “great deal of momentum right at the very top of the US government and the Taiwan government for coproduction” of weapons, US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said on the sidelines of the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Philadelphia.
Since its debut in 2002, the annual conference has facilitated engagement among the US defense industry, Taipei and Washington on security matters, said the council, which organized the event.
Photo: CNA
Asked to comment on the prospect of the US and Taiwan coproducing weapons after Taipei and Washington expressed in interested in the idea, Hammond-Chambers said that the countries’ commitment to coproduction is “100 percent,” but that many details still needed to be sorted out.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of if there will be coproduction, it’s a matter of what will be coproduced and when will it be coproduced,” he said.
The cost-effectiveness of joint production and the buyers that would be targeted, given the sensitivity of “one China” policies held by most countries, would also have to be considered, he said.
Other issues, including who would be the next US president or potential attempts by Taiwanese opposition parties to cut defense spending in the coming years could also cause “significant political problems,” he added.
“These big issues all have to be worked at, and we are in the early stages of working that out,” he said.
During this year’s conference, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞), who led Taiwan’s delegation to the gathering, urged Washington to include Taipei in a list of countries with which it engages in joint or licensed weapons production.
US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Jedidiah Royal on Monday said that the US would soon launch the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience with at least 12 US allies in the Indo-Pacific region and Europe, including Taiwan.
It would address supply chain constraints regarding weapons, a source who attended the closed-door speech cited Royal as saying.
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