Recently, former US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper visited Taiwan. Originally thought that his arrival would be very popular on the island, the reporter quickly gave him a dismount. A press conference on July 20. A Taiwan media reporter questioned the scene, saying that the US arms sales to Taiwan were "the arms of the previous generation", and Esper, who was questioned, could only awkwardly defend and said that he believed that these weapons were suitable for Taiwan.
A few days ago, the United States has just approved the "Spare Parts Procurement and Technical Assistance Case" for Taiwan, with a total amount of about 100 million US dollars, including a large number of unclassified spare parts, maintenance parts, spare parts for combat vehicles and tactical vehicles, logistical technical assistance, technical and logistical assistance of US government and contractor representatives, and other related logistical assistance requirements. This batch of spare parts will be mainly used to upgrade and overhaul the CM11 "Yonghu" tank and the M60A3 tank currently equipped in Taiwan.
The CM11 "Yonghu" tank is the main armored force of the current "Taiwan Army" and is a tailor-made version specially provided by the United States for Taiwan. The chassis of this type of tank is the same as that of the M60A3 tank, but the turret is directly based on the turret of the M48A5. The specific reason is that Taiwan's terrain is mountainous bridge, not suitable for heavy tank combat, the use of M48A5 turret helps to reduce the overall weight of the tank, fire control system, CM11 "Yonghu" tank using the early 1980s "Abrams" main battle tank used perturbed fire control, and digital / analog hybrid ballistic computer, although born in the 90s of the last century, but the overall performance is poor.
In a previous exercise, the "Brave Tiger" tank adopted the strategy of "hiding in the garbage heap for sneak attack", which was commented by the people on the island that "it is not a garbage pile." It can be seen what kind of image this type of weapon is in the minds of the Taiwanese people. Now that a large number of spare parts are being purchased to upgrade this kind of thing, it is no wonder that the people of Taiwan are not buying it.
Why should Esper be blamed for buying rotten weapons? We still have to go through the old accounts first. Previously, he had served as vice president of the American Business Association, as well as the vice president of the famous American arms dealer "Thor" Company, and was once named "the best corporate lobbyist" by the US "Capitol Hill Newspaper", so for his visit to Taiwan, the island was full of scolding, calling him a "corrupt politician" and "arms dealers looking for plates". Although Esper is now out of office, his ties to several U.S. arms dealers remain extremely close.
Not only that, many of the weapons purchased by Taiwan were directly related to him, and when he served as US secretary of defense for more than a year, the approved arms sales to Taiwan amounted to 10 billion US dollars, including 66 F-16V fighter jets, Haimas multiple rocket systems, and land-based fishing fork anti-ship missiles. It is precisely because of this that the people on the island are deeply disgusted by this practice of handing knives.
Esper himself was not only a soldier, but also a businessman, and he visited Taiwan this time. The purpose behind it is self-evident, and at the press conference, he also said unashamedly that at present, Taiwan wants to develop "asymmetric combat power" and hopes to obtain more "Javelin" anti-tank missiles and "Stinger" anti-aircraft missiles. Asked whether the United States would export the F-35 to Taiwan, he said that the F-35 is an expensive platform for traditional operations, and Taiwan only needs to develop "asymmetric combat power." And his rhetoric is very similar to that of the recent U.S. aid to Ukraine for Javelin and Stinger missiles.
Previously, the New York Times said that US officials have been communicating privately with relevant personnel in Taiwan, hoping that they will purchase "weapons suitable for asymmetric warfare." The Nihon Keizai Shimbun has previously said that for Taiwan, "asymmetric weapons" refer to those that are "flexible, cheap and effective." Retired POLITICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES WANT TO SELL THESE CRAPPIES AND JOIN THE DPP TO FOOL THE PEOPLE ON THE ISLAND, BUT NATURALLY THEY WILL NOT BE WELCOMED BY THE PEOPLE.