Taiwan sees continued US arms sale support after midterm election

TAIPEI: Taiwan has always enjoyed cross-party US support and Congress will continue to help in strengthening Taipei's defence capabilities, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Thursday (Nov 5) when asked about arms sales following the US midterm elections.

The United States is Chinese-claimed Taiwan's most important international backer and weapons supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties.

While President Donald Trump last December approved US$11 billion in arms for Taiwan, the largest sale ever, a second package worth about US$14 billion has stalled.

Following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in May, Trump called the package a good "bargaining chip" that he was holding in "abeyance".

China regularly describes Taiwan as its most sensitive and important diplomatic issue, and has repeatedly called for arms sales to stop. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future.

Asked by reporters at parliament in Taipei whether there would be any changes to the US$14 billion package after the Democrats won both houses in the midterms, Koo pointed to strong support from both US parties.

"I think the US Congress has always been non-partisan and will support Taiwan in strengthening its defence capabilities," he said.

"We will also continue to communicate with members of Congress, and of course we will maintain close contact with the US Department of War to ensure that these related arms sales proceed on schedule."

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside office hours in Washington.

ARMS SALES PACKAGE

Chen Fang-yu, associate professor at Taipei's Soochow University, said there was a high degree of consensus among both Democrats and Republicans on Taiwan.

"Secretary of State Rubio and his team remain central figures, and their overall strategy towards the Indo-Pacific, Asia, and the wider global situation is unlikely to change substantially," he added.

In September, four of Trump's fellow Republicans called on his administration to release more than US$15 billion in stalled national security assistance for Taiwan, including the US$14 billion package, ahead of Xi visiting the US capital.

Trump is expected to meet Xi at least twice more before the end of the year — at the APEC summit in China this month and at the G20 in Florida in December — and officials in Taipei have said it was possible the new package might be pushed into 2027.

Ronan Fu, assistant research fellow at the government's top think-tank Academia Sinica, said when arms sales did resume, maybe next year, they could be split into separate blocks.

"But if you were to add up the whole thing, I think the total amount will be roughly the same," he added.