Taiwan welcomes possible U.S. weapons aid: MND
ROC Central News Agency
05/07/2023 12:15 AM
Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Saturday declined to confirm a Reuters' report that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration plans to send US$500 million worth of weapons aid to Taiwan, using the same emergency authority that it has used to help Ukraine defend itself, but the ministry said it welcomed such a plan.
The ministry was asked to respond to the Reuters' report on Friday that as a part of the 2023 budget, U.S. Congress authorized up to US$1 billion worth of weapon aid for Taiwan using Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which expedites security assistance and has helped to send arms to Ukraine.
The drawdown, which authorizes the president to transfer weapons and services from U.S. stockpiles without congressional approval during an emergency, would be the first from that $1 billion authorization, according to Reuters.
In response to the report, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said the main purpose of the PDA is to provide Taiwan with U.S. weapons stockpiles to make up for the defense gap created by delays in U.S. ams deliveries.
The PDA is one of the acts under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2023, the MND said, adding that it "welcomes the assistance of allied countries."
Such a measure was used to provide weapons to Ukraine 35 times since the Russian invasion of the country began, the Reuters report said.
It was unclear whether the aid would be entirely free weapons for Taiwan or a loan that would have to be paid back with interest. Details of the plan could not be immediately obtained.
However, two analysts contacted by CNA said they believed the aid would be free weapons that already exist in the United States' stockpile.
One analyst said the proposal is not so much based on an assessment of any imminent military conflict involving Taiwan, but an effort to deal with the criticism the Biden administration has faced of not being able to expedite the much-delayed delivery of weapons systems Taiwan had procured.
The delay is believed to be partly due to Ukraine's massive need for weapons.
Biden administration officials have said they don't believe there's an imminent danger of the Chinese People's Liberation Army attacking Taiwan. Ely Ratner, United States assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said at a Senate hearing in February that he does not think China will engage in any "major aggression" against Taiwan before the end of this decade, meaning by 2030.
In order to quickly supplement Taiwan's defense capabilities, the United States weapons package to Taiwan should primarily include precision ammunition that can precisely hit a specific target, a military expert told CNA on Saturday.
The US$500 million could allow Taiwan to purchase 3,000 Javelin missiles or 6,000 Stinger missiles, or 500 harpoons or 120 MIM-104F (PAC-3) Patriot missiles, Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said.
While Japan, South Korea and the Philippines are among the treaty allies of the U.S., the military expert said Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand are partners of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy.
Washington strengthening military sales to Taiwan will help improve the country's defense capabilities as well as regional security, the expert said.
Considering China's gray zone threats, he said a strategic agreement could also be reached between Taipei and Washington for the latter to lease to Taiwan two naval vessels and several missiles as part of the US$500 million weapons package so as to rapidly increase Taiwan's defense resilience.
Referencing the Russia-Ukraine war, Su believes that if there was really a similar weapon provision to Taiwan, the articles could primarily include missiles.
The strengthening of U.S. military assistance to Taiwan is due to the heightened instability in the Taiwan Strait, including China's increasing military harassment of Taiwan, retired Air Force Lieutenant General Chang Yen-ting (張延廷) said.
Chang further echoed Su's view that the US$500 million weapons aid could consist primarily of precision ammunitions such as the Javelin and Stinger missiles, but also drones and other related equipment, based on the concept of asymmetric warfare.
In the report, Reuters, however, said it was unclear what would be included in the aid package for Taiwan, while the timing was also unknown.
There were also no details as to whether Taiwan would eventually have to pay the U.S. back for the weapons.
(By Wu Sheng-hung and Ko Lin)
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