Taiwan receiving US weapons years behind schedule – WSJ

The backlog illustrates slow progress, with Abrams tanks and HIMARS systems arriving after long delays, the outlet has reported

Taiwan has received 38 Abrams tanks from the US after a five-year wait, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Supply-chain problems “have proven more effective in keeping advanced American weaponry out of Taiwanese hands” than Beijing’s warnings have, the newspaper noted.

China views the self-governing island as a part of its territory. The US officially adheres to Beijing’s One-China policy, recognizing Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic, though Washington simultaneously engages in military cooperation with the government in Taipei, which Beijing strongly opposes.

The backlog of paid-for-but-undelivered US weapons awaited in Taiwan exceeded $20 billion at its peak earlier this year, according to Eric Gomez, a defense analyst at the Cato Institute, cited in the WSJ report.

Taiwan hailed the arrival of its first batch of M1A2 Abrams tanks this week, the report said. The 38 tanks were part of a 108-unit order placed in June 2019 during then-US President Donald Trump’s first term, with initial deliveries scheduled for 2022. The timeline apparently slipped by two years due to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and increased global demand stemming from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

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The tanks are the latest in a series of delayed US arms shipments to Taiwan. Recent deliveries, including the HIMARS rocket systems last month, have begun to reduce the total to approximately $19.17 billion, Gomez said. The remaining 70 Abrams tanks and F-16V fighter jets are expected by 2026.

Taiwan is also set to receive a shipment of TOW-2B anti-tank missiles by the end of the year. Their sale was approved almost a decade ago under then-President Barack Obama.

Beijing has consistently opposed US arms sales to Taipei, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian urging Washington on Monday to “stop arming Taiwan and stop encouraging or supporting ‘Taiwan independence’ forces trying to achieve their goals through military means.”

China’s Foreign Ministry highlighted that Washington’s ongoing support of Taipei contradicts previous commitments made by the US under the August 17 Communiqué from 1982, in which the US pledged not to pursue a long-term policy of arms sales to the island and expressed its intention to gradually reduce arms sales over time.