Greater pressure to speed up arms sales to Taiwan possible after midterms — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- David Sacks said one post-midterm outcome could be Republicans breaking with Trump to pressure the administration to approve Taiwan’s US$14 billion (S$17.86 billion) arms package; Congress might also seek to codify the Six Assurances into legislation.
- Trump’s Republican administration slowed arms sales to self-ruled Taiwan and treated them as a negotiating chip in dealings with China, which opposes the sales and claims the island as territory to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
- Taiwan MOFA said on Nov 5 that Taipei’s US ties rest on non-partisan engagement, broad goodwill and active communication, backed consistently by bipartisan members of Congress and the executive branch; it will also deepen cooperation in security, trade, science and technology, and education.
- Wellington Koo said Congress has consistently supported Taiwan’s defence buildup on a bipartisan basis and that Taiwan would keep contacting lawmakers and the US Department of War to ensure related arms sales proceed on schedule.
- Six Assurances privately conveyed to Taipei in July 1982 include a clause not setting an end date for arms sales to Taiwan, after the 1982 Joint Communique on Arms Sales stated that the US would seek no long-term sales policy and gradually reduce sales.
Why it matters: Taiwan’s defence minister links congressional backing directly to its effort to beef up capabilities, while Trump’s administration has treated sales as a China bargaining chip. The US$14 billion package is therefore a direct defence stake for Taiwan and a point of leverage for the White House; Sacks’s proposed codification targets the Six Assurances’ clause against setting an arms-sales end date.
Ask SkimNews
