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Taiwan awaiting formal notice of new arms deals from U.S.: foreign minister

ROC Central News Agency

10/13/2020 05:13 PM

Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said Tuesday that Taiwan has not received any notice from the U.S. regarding another round of arms sales to Taiwan.

Wu made the statement before attending a legislative session, responding to a news report the previous day from Reuters news agency, which said that the White House is in the process of sending notification to Congress of advanced weaponry sales to Taiwan for approval.

Wu told reporters that his office will inform the public once Taiwan receives notice from the U.S.

Wu also expressed gratitude to the U.S. for its continued provision of defensive military articles in accordance with the Six Assurances and the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) as Taiwan faces an increasing military threat from China.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) said Tuesday at a regular press briefing that Taiwan maintains close coordination with the U.S. regarding its defense needs and that relevant arms deals are still under review.

"We have not received formal notice, but we will make an announcement once the U.S. government formally notifies Congress," Ou said.

She noted that the U.S. has already made seven arms sales to Taiwan over the past four years to strengthen Taiwan's defense capabilities and that Taiwan will continue to deepen the Taiwan-U.S. security partnership to promote peace and stability in the region.

The Ministry of National Defense declined to comment on the Reuters' report, echoing MOFA's position that it will disclose more about the deals once the U.S. Congress is formally notified.

According to Reuters, the U.S. is planning to sell as many as seven major weapons systems to Taiwan and the White House has informally notified the U.S. Congress that three of them have already been approved by the U.S. State Department.

The three weapons systems include the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), a truck-based rocket launcher, the SLAM-ER, an advanced stand-off precision-guided air-launched cruise missile, and external sensor pods for F-16 jets that allow real-time transmission of imagery and data from the aircraft back to ground control.

Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, has increased the frequency of its military activities around the island in recent months as cross-Taiwan Strait relations deteriorate due to closer Taiwan-U.S. engagements.

On Sept. 19, as many as 19 Chinese military planes, including J-16 multi-role fighters, either crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered Taiwan's southwest Air Defense Identification Zone, raising tension in the region.

(By Kuo Chien-shen and Emerson Lim)

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