The Taiwanese government has said it was unaware of any “adjustments” to US arms sales after a senior US official said they had been put on hold over the attack on Iran and Washington’s effort to replenish domestic stockpiles.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said arms deliveries to Taiwan were “a very good negotiating chip” to deal with China, appearing to contradict Washington’s decades-old policy that legally binds it to provide the island nation with weaponry. At the time, Taiwan tried to downplay Trump’s remarks, with President Lai Ching-te hailing the sales as “the most important deterrent” against a potential conflict in the region. Beijing has long condemned close US military cooperation with the island, regarding it as a violation of the One-China policy and as meddling in its internal affairs.
The “pause” in arms sales was confirmed by US Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao during a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on Thursday. Asked about future sales to the island, Cao pointed at the US-Israeli attack on Iran and the need to make sure “we have everything” with the foreign arms sales set to “continue when the administration deems necessary.”
“It’s just right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury – which we have plenty,” he said.
The US-Israeli attack on Iran is believed to have put a heavy strain on Washington’s stockpiles of weapons. Despite repeated assurances by top US officials that the Pentagon still has all the munitions it needs should the conflict reignite, independent assessments suggest Washington has used alarmingly high volumes of expensive sophisticated weapons, including interceptor missiles and high-precision munitions.
The Pentagon has reportedly warned its European allies, including the UK, Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia, to expect long delays in weaponry deliveries. According to a recent report by the Financial Times, the delays will affect munitions for mobile rocket launchers, as well as anti-aircraft systems. At the time, the Pentagon said it has been “carefully evaluating new requests for equipment from partners as well as existing arms transfer cases to ensure alignment with operational needs.”
7 Responses
Isn’t it obvious? The plan is to off load TSMC to the US and then Teddy Bear can have the island. This gives us critical control over chip production for AI. Japan is a critical ally since they are the only ones who can produce the masking chemicals (photoresist) pure enough for use in the 2nm process. Hence why they are getting upgrades to all of our latest tech.
Let’s see, distance from China to Taiwan…80 miles, Distance from US to Taiwan…7500 miles. We cannot and will not defend this island. That would be like China trying to defend Cuba from being attacked by the US. Ain’t gonna happen. China has looked the other way on Iran. Now we must look the other way on Taiwan.
Every day is TACO Tuesday with Trumpy Bear’s winning foerign policies. It’s a great time to NOT to be an American in Trumpy Bear’s America.
The entire World is learning very quickly that Trump is a back stabber and cannot be trusted on anything.
Trump is a pushover. China told him to quit selling arms to Taiwan.
Japan and Taiwan better stick together.
Trump is sucking off Winnie the pooh. now, this retard can’t stuff enough foreign c0ck in his mouth at once.
Trump has been bought and paid for by the Jewish bankers since the 1980s and has always been part of their plan. The real enemies right here and now are the current Trump supporters in the USA who live, work, worship, shop, exist, rule, go to school, and pollute our own neighborhoods and communities.