Source: Global Times
[Global Times Special Correspondent in the United States Yingchen Ren Zhong] The United States is selling weapons to Taiwan like selling futures or selling house flowers. According to the US Defense News website on the 25th, in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the COVID-19 epidemic affecting the supply capacity of US arms dealers, arms sales to Taiwan have actually been in a dilemma of "large amounts of orders are backlogged". "They prioritize all weapons in Ukraine." It is reported that the backlog of arms to Taiwan has reached US$14 billion. At the same time, the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party authorities passed the "largest-scale" defense budget in history on the 25th, with a year-on-year increase of 13.9%, which triggered strong doubts on the island: "Has the American father's protection fee increased?" "It doesn't require so much budget for all thrown with stones. I think it's a red envelope fee for politicians who come to Taiwan to check in." Taiwan's China Times said on the 26th that in August, US government officials, members of Congress, and scholars from think tanks "come to the stage one after another", making the DPP government very busy and "busy until rationality is cut off." "The big brother of the United States came to ask Taiwan to buy arms, and also to invest in TSMC's advanced process chips in the United States." Yan Zhensheng, a researcher at the Center for International Relations Research at the National Political University of Taiwan, told the Hong Kong China Review News Agency on the 26th that the United States has been sending groups to Taiwan. He doubted whether "deliberately create opportunities to allow mainland military exercises and allow Taiwan to continue to buy weapons." Analysts said that it is not ruled out that the United States creates a tense atmosphere and "hungry" weapons to Taiwan, which makes the Taiwan authorities more proactive in paying money from the United States.
F-16 orders, Taiwan ranks behind Eastern Europe and Middle East
"Defense News" website reported on the 25th that since "nearly 12 Dongfeng ballistic missiles flew over Taiwan earlier this month" and the PLA responded to "the largest exercise in history" to Pelosi 's rush to Taiwan, US lawmakers have emphasized that "it is necessary to export as many weapons as possible to Taiwan" as part of the so-called "porcupine" strategy to prevent the mainland's blockade or "invasion".
However, the fact is that "Taiwan is facing a backlog of US$14 billion arms sales from the United States", and the undelivered weapons include F-16 fighter , components of the Patriot missile air defense system, "Sthorn" air defense missile, Mk-48 heavy torpedo, "Haimas" high-motor rocket launcher system, MS-110 reconnaissance pod, etc.
article stated that U.S. arms manufacturers usually start producing weapons only after receiving the final contract of the Department of Defense. "The clumsy foreign arms sales process has been problematic for many years, but recently the delay has been exacerbated by the epidemic-related supply chain problems in the defense industrial base."
At the same time, as the United States is "backfilling the NATO eastern wing" and putting weapons as much as possible in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, NATO against Russia's "front-line countries", Taiwan is preparing to spend US$2.3 billion to purchase 400 land-based "harpoon" missiles, and the same is true for Taiwan's "sting" air defense missiles and high-motorized rocket launcher systems.
"In many cases, Saudi Arabia is ahead of Taiwan in order to sort the supply list." Rep. Gallagher, a Republican of Wisconsin, told Defense News. In the production and supply sequence of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets, several Middle Eastern and Eastern European countries are ahead of Taiwan. In 2019, The U.S. State Department approved the sale of 66 F-16s to Taiwan for $8 billion, but Taipei is expected to not receive these fighter jets until 2026.
Nikkei Asia Review also said that the United States may delay the delivery of key military equipment to Taiwan because Washington is focusing on providing weapons to Ukraine. Taiwan is expected to receive 250 "Sthorn" surface-to-air missiles until March 2026. The M109A6 self-propelled artillery also encountered similar problems. Taiwan originally planned to receive 40 units between 2023 and 2025, but Washington notified Taiwan that delivery will be postponed to as early as 2026 due to "tension" of production in the United States.
"Defense News" said that the U.S. Senate will try to resolve the backlog of weapons sold in Taiwan for the first time in September this year, when the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee is ready to amend the so-called "Taiwan Policy Act."The cross-party bill will provide Taiwan with $4.5 billion in military aid through foreign military financing projects. However, although the aid will be used to help Taiwan buy "more" American weapons, as long as the backlog of arms sales still exists, "the increased aid becomes less meaningful."
The United States may sell Taiwan's new ammunition in September
According to the " New York Times ", Taiwanese officials are already complaining about the delayed and unfinished delivery of weapons orders. For other systems that Taiwan wants, including advanced submarine , naval helicopter , U.S. officials believe that "no need", and they say that fighting with mainland China requires an "asymmetric" strategy, focusing on mobility and precision strikes.
25, a source close to the political level of US arms sales to Taiwan told Reuters : "I think what the United States is trying to sell to Taiwan is not only weapons...it may be more low-level supplies such as ammunition." The source said that such arms sales projects may be announced as soon as September to show that Beijing's lock-up exercise after Pelosi's trip to Taiwan "has not shaken US support for Taiwan". "If an embargo occurs, Taiwan will need more military supplies and ammunition."
The news that the United States will continue to sell martial arts to Taiwan in September did not allow the people on the island to experience the so-called "support" of the United States for Taiwan. Some netizens left a message pointing out incisively: "It's so easy to make money, of course it won't change!" "I'm going to sell junk again. If you don't sell your latest one, it's worse than a fraud group." Some netizens said: "Look at the Ukrainian battlefield... I already know it in my heart."
As Taiwan Dongsen News said, "The United States will not sell weapons that are truly useful to Taiwan." The Deutsche Voice reported on the 25th that the Taiwan military prefers large commodities such as fighter jets and warships and , but the United States is more willing to promote arms sales to Taiwan are anti-ship missiles and and air defense missiles, as well as training soldiers to resist "invading landing forces."
26, Tsai Ing-wen boasted on Facebook that next year "the most 'defense budget' in history" and netizens were in an uproar. Someone asked: "The budget is high, why do you let the Taiwan military throw drones with stones?" Some netizens asked: "Does the 'defense budget' want to buy stones?" (So accused the fact that the Taiwan military stationed in Kinmen and Taiwan used to throw stones to try to drive away drones from mainland China in the middle of this month.)
politicians who fled Taiwan all came to "grab money"
Now the United States sells some weapons to Taiwan, which often delays for several years; on the other hand, American politicians say that they fled Taiwan and force Taiwan to buy this and that. On the evening of the 25th, US Republican Senator Blackburn, a Republican, arrived in Taiwan to visit. This is also the fourth US delegation to visit by the DPP authorities this month. Given that Blackburn is a member of the Arms and Trade Commission of the Senate, some analysts say that continuing to promote the sale of Taiwan military is likely to be the main purpose of her trip.
26, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to Blackburn's outbreak.
According to the warning of Putian Maritime Bureau, live-fire shooting training is planned for some waters in Fujian on the 26th and 27th. On the 26th, the Eastern Theater Command announced that it had recently organized joint combat readiness police patrols and practical exercises in the sea and airspace around Taiwan. This is a normalized military operation organized in accordance with changes in the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
The China Times analyzed that the US midterm election is coming soon, and U.S. lawmakers come to Taiwan one after another for political and economic interests. In terms of economy, the United States and other industries were facing chip supply chain problems before, and urgently needed to cooperate with Taiwanese manufacturers such as TSMC. These lawmakers can not only visit large manufacturers such as TSMC, but also be personally received by senior executives of the company, so they compete to visit. In mid-April this year, Graham and others led a delegation to visit Taiwan, repeatedly asking Taiwan to purchase Boeing 787 passenger planes. Even when they met with Tsai Ing-wen, their speeches asking for the purchase of the plane were "silenced" by the Taiwan authorities' press release. After returning to the United States, Graham mentioned again that he "hopefully Taiwan announced the purchase of 24 aircraft as soon as possible." During the recent trip to Taiwan, Japanese lawmakers also vigorously promoted the Shinkansen in Japan, but the relevant content was also "silenced" by the Taiwan authorities.
Yan Zhensheng said in an interview with Hong Kong China News Service on the 26th that the governor of Indiana, the United States, recently entered the stage to strive for the island's technology industry to set up factories in his state. Yan Zhensheng, who once studied for a doctorate at Purdue University in Indiana, said that Indiana is mainly based on agriculture, but there are also some industries. In the 1980s, Japanese cars sold well in the United States, but the United States could not stand it, so they asked Japan to move the car factory to the United States to create jobs for Americans. At that time, Indiana took the Toyota to set up a factory in the United States.
Former DPP "legislator" Xu Guotai said that American officials or speakers come to Taiwan with purpose and will never support them for no reason. The people who support the United States have to pay a price, "When one day Taiwan has no money, you will wait to be abandoned." The China Times commented on the 26th that another U.S. lawmaker has come to Taiwan, and the so-called "best in the history of Taiwan-US relations" is that Taiwan's "treasury" is getting empty as it is. The article said that the People's Liberation Army's frequent military exercises are "Isn't it also related to the United States' forced efforts?" If the United States really supports Taiwan, "the aircraft carrier "Reagan" will not escape next time."
