'We will deliver those weapons,' U.S. lawmaker promises President Tsai
ROC Central News Agency
04/08/2023 05:06 PM
Taipei, April 8 (CNA) Visiting U.S. Representative Michael McCaul on Saturday promised President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that lawmakers in Washington would work to clear a backlog of weapons it has yet to deliver to Taiwan.
"I promise you, Madam President, we will deliver those weapons," said McCaul, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, at a luncheon hosted by Tsai in Taipei.
McCaul was likely referring to reports that Washington had run up a backlog of approximately US$19 billion worth of defense articles it had agreed to sell Taiwan as of December 2022.
McCaul told Tsai that U.S. lawmakers "are doing everything [they] can in Congress to speed up these sales."
Part of that effort, as McCaul suggested at a press conference on Friday, would be for the U.S. Congress to re-prioritize the delivery of weapons to Taiwan.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a House hearing in late March the delay in delivering defense articles to Taiwan had been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and pressure on supply chains.
At the time, Austin said a special team had been established to work on those issues in the hope of expediting the delivery of the weapons.
Speaking at the luncheon, McCaul, without elaborating, also said the U.S. would provide training for the Taiwanese military in an effort to enhance the latter's defensive capabilities.
"Projecting weakness only invites aggression and conflict," he said. "Projecting strength provides deterrence and promotes peace."
Meanwhile, Tsai thanked the U.S. Congress for being "a key force" in promoting the relations between Taipei and Washington, while stressing that Taiwan would continue working with the U.S. and other nations to defend shared values of freedom and democracy.
"The people of Taiwan love democracy, seek peace, and are keen to fulfill their responsibility in the international community," Tsai said.
McCaul arrived in Taiwan on Thursday for a three-day visit, as part of a wider Indo-Pacific tour that also includes stops in Japan and South Korea.
The eight-member delegation also includes House Republican Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler, Young Kim, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee's subgroup on Indo-Pacific affairs, and the ranking member of that subgroup, Ami Bera.
The delegation has met with Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), Legislative Yuan Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃), as well as executives of Taiwan's semiconductors and defense companies over the past few days.
(By Teng Pei-ju)
Enditem/ASG
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