Taiwan is a priority partner for the US in the joint production of defense equipment, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said.
Greene made the remarks in an interview with Japanese public broadcaster NHK World, published on Oct. 25.
Asked about remarks made by former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that Taiwan should spend 10 percent of its GDP on defense, Green said: “I don’t think we’ve done an evaluation on how much [Taiwan] can spend."
Photo: Screen grab from NHK World’s YouTube channel
“There are many areas that I think need to be invested in and I think we’re quite pleased that the Lai [President William Lai (賴清德)] administration is not only implementing defense reform and not only increasing the spending levels on defense, but also is investing in these areas of broader resilience and security,” he added.
The government has proposed an 8 percent increase from last year’s defense budget and also invested in the broader “whole-of-society resilience,” including energy security, cyber security and telecommunications resilience, he added.
Asked to elaborate on his previous remarks that he hopes Taiwan would participate in the joint production of defense equipment with other countries, Greene said: “Taiwan has quite an advanced defense industrial base already” and the US is “looking at a variety of partners around the world — especially countries like Japan where we have long-time defense-industrial relationships.”
Aside from opportunities in traditional defense industries, there are also opportunities given the increasing application of civilian technologies for defense purposes, such as in drones or integrating advanced microchips into defense systems, he added.
“And in all of these areas, given Taiwan’s very strong industrial base, very strong technology base, we see Taiwan is obviously a priority partner,” he said. “I expect to see those discussions to continue on and opportunities to continue to manifest themselves in the future.”
Asked about the importance of joint production of defense equipment and lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, the AIT director said: “I think one of the lessons that we’ve learned is the need to make sure that the equipment we produce is interoperable or even interchangeable. So if there is a need to send equipment in an emergency to a partner, that equipment could be utilized.”
Regarding China’s “Joint Sword 2024-B” military drills around Taiwan on Oct. 14, Greene cited how it was the first time China conducted a military exercise in response to a Double Ten National Day presidential address.
“We believe that the address President Lai delivered on 10/10 was very routine, very normal, covered themes that we’ve seen in previous addresses by his predecessors,” he said.
“We were very concerned by the fact that China chose to take advantage of that opportunity to conduct an exercise which we believe undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” he added.
Asked, “If China were to invade Taiwan today, would Taiwan be able to repel the Chinese forces?” Greene said he would not get into any hypotheticals, but said that the US was impressed with the reforms Lai and his predecessor have implemented, including the reinstatement of one-year conscription.
The US is also impressed with Lai’s focus on the whole of society’s resilience and we believe all these efforts contribute to maintaining that deterrence, he said.
The US is also working closely with key allies and partners to build broader deterrent capabilities in the Pacific region, he added.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as