The newly elected Taiwan president recently met lawmakers visiting from the US. Their job was to solidify the US-Taiwan alliance. In this meeting, Lai Ching-te urged US politicians to push for legislation that would allow Washington to send – and sell – more and more weapons to Taiwan to counter China.
The delegation of six House members, led by Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is the first group of US officials to visit Taiwan after the island’s President Lai Ching-te took office on May 20. “We are moving forward on those weapons systems,” said McCaul at a news conference in Taipei after his meeting with Lai. “I’d like to see them faster, but they are forthcoming”, he added. Taiwan’s ‘request’ and the US lawmakers’ display of urgency come against the backdrop of recent Chinese military drills, also known as “punishment drills”, that were ostensibly designed, according to the US media’s interpretations of these drills, to “seize power” on the island. These drills, in turn, come against the backdrop of anti-China politicians winning elections and adopting a more provocative stance towards China – a stance that surely has Washington’s support.
Historical Context of US Arms Sales to Taiwan
Lai’s new request notwithstanding, Washington has been arming Taiwan for many decades now. The Trump administration, for instance, sold weapons worth US$18.27 billion to Taiwan between 2017 and 2020. Since August 2021, according to........