The US is considering a plan to jointly manufacture weapons with Taiwan in an effort to speed up arms deliveries for the island, a member of the US-Taiwan Business Council said on Wednesday.
Since 2017, the US has approved over $20 billion in arms sales for Taiwan, but deliveries have been delayed. According to Defense News, the island is facing a $14 billion backlog in sales from the US, including an $8 billion F-16 deal.
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, the president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, said that the idea of joint production is “right at the beginning of the process.” The plan was first reported by Nikkei Asia, which said the US and Taiwan have just begun talks on the idea.
Taiwan has been working to increase the domestic production of missiles and naval vessels, but it’s not clear at this point what weapons the US and Taiwan might produce together. Hammond-Chambers said it would likely be focused on munitions and missile technology.
The plan would require obtaining licenses from the State Department and Pentagon, which could be hesitant to issue them due to concerns of sensitive weapons technology used for US weapons production getting into the wrong hands. But the US does seem determined to get more arms into Taiwan’s hands despite the fact that it will raise tensions with Beijing.
The Senate is looking to give Taiwan $10 billion in military aid spread out over five years as part of an amendment included in its version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is expected to be voted on after mid-term elections in November.
I’m 79+ years old. I’ve had to endure over 70 of it watching this “beacon of democracy” indulge itself in countless coups, intrusions, interventions, and outright wars. Now the aholes in what used to be my party of choice are attempting – and succeeding – in forcing me to watch the next series of efforts to screw with the lives of Earth’s inhabitants to the detriment of all.
Frankly, I’m done with US politics, which stinks to high heaven. If it were up to me, I’d have Biden impeached and removed from office by noon today. That is all.
I like you old bear.
Right back at you, friend. I like your logo. Assange and other truth tellers deserve our support.
I was going to add that it might be nice to have his testicles removed but then I thought about it and it occurred to me, he probably doesn’t have any….
Can’t disagree but think about the line of succession. Cacking witch after cackling witch.
This isn’t provocative at all. /s
And when this war starts, these provocations will be long forgotten, or downplayed in the propaganda barrage, just like the 30 years of provocations leading up to Russia’s invasion.
I wonder if my state could get 10 Billion bucks, without the military stuff… Of course I don’t know if we are a strategic asset in NM.
This year, federal spending in New Mexico is 3 1/2 times that much.
That’s nice.
I’m still laughing OB…. 😉
For non-military??
Holy cow! MIC, hard at work…
“US Considering Joint Weapons Production With Taiwan The US has approved $20 billion in arms sales for Taiwan since 2017, but there have been delays in deliveries”
What would America do if China put weapons production in Mexico or Canada?
Good.