The United States has only informal relations with Taiwan.
Washington:
U.S. business groups on Tuesday criticized the Biden administration’s policy on arms sales to Taiwan, arguing in a public letter that it was too limited and failed to meet the challenge posed by China’s military on the Democratic island.
The U.S. administration has repeatedly pressured Taiwan to modernize its military to become a “green” that supports China’s hard-to-attack, cheap, mobile and survival – or “asymmetrical” – arms sales that exceed any initial attack by a larger China. Can Military
But in a May 16 letter to senior U.S. government officials, the American Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council in Taiwan said that under President Joe Biden, the United States has taken a tough stance, only agreeing to sell “Taiwan’s all-encompassing D-Day style.” Attack “address.
The capabilities that address China’s ongoing coercive gray zone activities in Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) will be denied to those that do not apply in this situation, citing the dramatic increase in Chinese military operations to Taiwan in the past, the parties said. For two years, it was seen as an attempt to exhaust Taiwanese forces.
“Far from accelerating Taiwan’s resistance, we fear that the ‘asymmetrical’ focus designed to assist Taiwan’s security will lead to policy confusion and a significant slowdown in overall arms sales,” said the group, which counts U.S. defense contractors among its members.
Groups say the administration is preventing Taiwan from submitting requests for certain platforms, including MH-60R helicopters, because they “do not fit” with the strategy.
Taiwan indicated earlier this month that it had abandoned plans to buy 12 advanced anti-submarine warfare helicopters from the United States because they were too expensive.
In response to the letter, the State Department said it strongly supports Taiwan’s efforts to implement an unconventional defense strategy.
“This means that continuing to pursue systems that do not contribute to an effective defense strategy is inconsistent with the growing security threats facing Taiwan,” a department spokesman said in an emailed statement.
China has never stopped using force to bring Taiwan under its control.
The United States has only informal relations with Taipei, but under US law, Washington must provide Taiwan with a means of self-defense, and the Biden administration has promised to engage with the island.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published from a syndicated feed.)
