The United States engaged in "starvation sales" in arms sales to the Taiwan authorities, and the F-16 order in Taiwan ranked second to Eastern Europe and the Middle East

Source: Global Times

The United States is selling weapons to Taiwan like it sells futures or real estate flowers. According to the US "Defense News" website on the 25th, in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the new crown pneumonia epidemic affecting the supply capacity of US arms dealers, arms sales to Taiwan have actually long fallen into the dilemma of "a large number of orders are backlogged", "they have given priority to all weapons in Ukraine", and it is reported that the backlog of arms sales to Taiwan so far has reached 14 billion US dollars. At the same time, the DPP authorities in Taiwan passed the "largest defense budget in history" on the 25th, an increase of 13.9% year-on-year, which aroused strong questions from public opinion on the island: "The price of the American father's protection fee has increased?" "You don't need so much budget at all, I think it's a red envelope fee for politicians who have come to Taiwan to punch in." Taiwan's "China Times" said on the 26th that in August, US government officials, congressmen, and think tank scholars "went forward and followed the fish to the stage", making the DPP government busy and "busy to the point of rational disconnection". "Big Brother america came to taiwan to buy arms, and also wanted TSMC advanced process chips to invest in the United States." Yan Zhensheng, a concurrent researcher at the Center for International Relations Studies of Taiwan Chengchi University, told the Hong Kong Central Commentary Agency on the 26th that the United States has been sending delegations to Taiwan, and he doubted whether it was "deliberately creating opportunities for the mainland to exercise and let Taiwan continue to buy weapons." Analysts said that it is not excluded that the United States will create tension while "starving" weapons to Taiwan, so that the Taiwan authorities will be more proactive in paying money to the United States.

For F-16 orders, Taiwan ranks behind Eastern Europe and the Middle East

The "Defense News" website reported on the 25th that since earlier this month, "nearly 12 Dongfeng ballistic missiles flew over the island" and the People's Liberation Army responded to Pelosi's channeling with "the largest exercise in history", US lawmakers have more emphasized that "it is necessary to export as many weapons as possible to Taiwan" as part of the so-called "porcupine" strategy to prevent the mainland's blockade or "invasion".

However, the fact is that "Taiwan is facing a backlog of $14 billion in arms sales from the United States," with undelivered weapons including F-16 fighter jets, components of the Patriot missile air defense system, Stinger air defense missiles, Mk-48 heavy torpedoes, Haimas high-mobility rocket launcher systems, MS-110 reconnaissance pods, and so on.

U.S. arms manufacturers typically start producing weapons after receiving a final contract from the Department of Defense, and "there have been problems with the clumsy foreign arms sales process for years, but recently the delay has been exacerbated by outbreak-related supply chain issues within defense industrial bases."

At the same time, because the United States is "backfilling NATO's east wing" and placing its weapons as far as possible in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, which NATO is facing Russia's "front-line countries", Taiwan is ready to spend $2.3 billion to buy 400 land-based "Harpoon" missiles, and Taiwan's order for "Stinger" air defense missiles and high-mobility rocket artillery systems is also "plugged in".

"In many cases, Saudi Arabia is ahead of Taiwan in ranking the supply list." Rep. Gallagher, Republican of Wisconsin, told Defense News. In the lockheed Martin F-16 production and supply sequence, several Middle Eastern and Eastern European countries are ahead of Taiwan. In 2019, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 66 F-16s to Taiwan for $8 billion, but Taipei expects to receive the aircraft until 2026.

The Nikkei Asian Review also said the United States could delay delivery of critical military equipment to Taiwan as Washington focuses on providing weapons to Ukraine. Taiwan is not expected to receive 250 Stinger surface-to-air missiles until March 2026. The M109A6 self-propelled gun has also encountered similar problems, with Taiwan originally planning to receive 40 between 2023 and 2025, but Washington informed Taiwan that deliveries would be delayed until as early as 2026 due to "tight" U.S. production.

Defense News said that the US Senate will try for the first time in September this year to solve the backlog of arms sales to Taiwan, when the US Foreign Relations Committee is ready to amend the so-called "Taiwan Policy Act". The cross-party bill will provide $4.5 billion in military aid to Taiwan through foreign military financing programs. But while the aid will be used to help Taiwan buy "more" U.S. weapons, "the increased aid will become less meaningful" as long as the backlog of arms sales remains.

The United States may sell new ammunition to Taiwan in September

According to the New York Times, Taiwanese officials are already complaining about delays in deliveries and non-completion of weapons orders, while U.S. officials see other systems taiwan wants, including advanced submarine-searchable naval helicopters, as "unnecessary," saying that fighting Chinese mainland requires an "asymmetrical" strategy focused on maneuverability and precision strikes.

On the 25th, a source close to the political level officials of the US arms sales to Taiwan told Reuters: "I think that the United States is trying to sell more than weapons to Taiwan... It could be a low-level supply of more ammunition and so on. The source said such arms sales could be announced as soon as September to show that Beijing's lockdown exercise after Pelosi's passage "has not shaken U.S. support for Taiwan" and that "if an embargo occurs on Taiwan, Taiwan will need more munitions and ammunition."

The news that the United States will continue to sell arms to Taiwan in September did not let the people on the island realize the so-called "support" of the United States for Taiwan, and some netizens left a message to the point: "Such a good profit, of course, it will not change!" "Selling rags again, not selling your latest, worse than a scam syndicate." Another netizen said: "Look at the Battlefield in Ukraine... The heart already knows. ”

As Taiwan's Eastern News said, "The United States does not sell weapons that are really useful to Taiwan." The "Deutsche Welle" report on the 25th also said that The Taiwan military prefers large commodities such as fighter jets and warships, but the arms sales to Taiwan that the United States is more willing to promote are anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft missiles, as well as training soldiers to resist "invading landing forces.".

On the 26th, Tsai Ing-wen boasted on Facebook that next year was "the most in the history of the 'defense budget'", and netizens were in an uproar. Someone asked: "The budget is large, why let the Taiwan military throw drones with stones?" Another netizen asked: "Is the 'defense budget' to buy stones?" (Ironically, the military stationed in Kinmentai in the middle of this month used stones to try to drive away mainland drones.) ）

Politicians in Taiwan have come to "grab money."

Now the United States sells some weapons to Taiwan, often delaying for several years; On the other hand, US politicians are saying that taiwan is channeling taiwan, and they are forcing Taiwan to buy this and buy that. On the evening of the 25th, Senator Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, arrived in Taiwan for a visit. This is also the fourth US delegation received by the DPP authorities this month. Given that Blackburn is a member of the Senate Arms and Trade Committee, some analysts said that continuing to promote arms sales to Taiwan is likely to be the main purpose of her trip.

On the 26th, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to Blackburn's channeling.

According to the warning of the Putian Maritime Safety Bureau: on the 26th and 27th, some waters in Fujian are planned to carry out live-fire training. On 26 July, the Eastern Theater announced that it had recently organized a multi-service joint combat readiness patrol and a real-combat exercise in the sea and airspace around Taiwan Island, which was a normalized military operation organized in light of changes in the situation in the Taiwan Strait.

"China Times" analyzed that the US midterm elections are coming, and the successive visits of US congressmen to Taiwan are probably more for political and economic interests. In terms of economy, before the United States automobile and other industries faced chip supply chain problems, it is urgent to cooperate with Taiwanese manufacturers such as TSMC, these parliamentarians come to Taiwan, not only can go directly to TSMC and other large factories to visit, by the company executives personally received, so compete to visit. In mid-April this year, Graham and others led a delegation to visit Taiwan, repeatedly asking Taiwan to purchase a Boeing 787 passenger plane, and even when meeting with Tsai Ing-wen, the statement asking to buy the plane was "silenced" by the Taiwan authorities press release. After returning to the United States, Graham again mentioned that he hoped that Taiwan would announce the purchase of 24 aircraft as soon as possible. However, during the recent period of the Japanese parliamentarians, they also vigorously promoted the Japanese Shinkansen, and as a result, the relevant contents were also "silenced" by the Taiwan authorities.

Yan Zhensheng said in an interview with the Hong Kong China Commentary Agency on the 26th that the recent governor of Indiana in the United States channeled Taiwan in order to strive for the island's science and technology industry to set up factories in its state. Yan Zhensheng, who studied for a doctorate at Purdue University in Indiana, said indiana is mainly based on agriculture, but also some industry. In the 1980s, Japanese cars sold well in the United States, and the United States could not stand it, so it asked Japan to move the depot to the United States to create jobs for Americans.

Xu Guotai, a former "legislator" of the Democratic Progressive Party, said that US officials or speakers come to Taiwan for a purpose, and they will absolutely not support it for no reason, and the targets of US support will have to pay a price. "China Times" commented on the 26th that another US congressman has come to Taiwan, and the consequence of the so-called "best in the history of Taiwan-US relations" is that Taiwan's "national treasury" is getting hollowed out. The article said that the People's Liberation Army's frequent military exercises, "is not it also related to the United States' hard work?" If the United States really stands up to Taiwan "rock solid", "the aircraft carrier Reagan will not run away next time."