US defence contractors will visit Taiwan in May to bolster bilateral security cooperation

A group of some two dozen US defence contractors will visit Taiwan to bolster bilateral security cooperation in early May, the head of the US-Taiwan Business Council told the South China Morning Post on Thursday. “The US-Taiwan Business Council will lead a delegation of defence companies,” said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, whose non-profit trade association focuses on developing trade and business relations between Washington and Taipei. The two sides would “engage on a number of issues in security cooperation”, including drone technology, he added. The delegation of American defence industry representatives will be led by Steven Rudder, a retired commander of the US Marine Corps Forces, Pacific. Without confirming reports of possible discussions on jointly producing drones, Hammond-Chambers said the group would explore “a whole range of different ways in which the two business communities can cooperate”. “I know there’s a great deal of focus on FMS, foreign military sales, which is Taiwan simply procuring weapons made in America,” he added. “But there are many programmes, domestic programmes, in Taiwan that require American technology to be put in them. So it’ll be a mixture of all those things, depending on what Taiwan’s needs are.” In addressing reports that the delegation would meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Hammond-Chambers said a request had been made but “nothing is confirmed”. The US is the sole arms supplier to Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing considers a renegade province. Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged reunification with Taiwan, by force if necessary. Xi urges ‘firm and flexible’ approach from Chinese navy While the US does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country, it is legally bound to support its defence capability. Since taking office in 2021, US President Joe Biden has on several occasions stated the US would commit to intervening militarily should China use force against the island, despite America’s long-standing policy of strategic ambiguity. Taiwan has become a flashpoint between the two global powers over increased US arms sales and high-level political engagement. But the US has struggled in its efforts to arm Taiwan. Washington now faces a US$19 billion backlog in arms sales for the island due to production constraints and a surge in weapons demand resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Hammond-Chambers last month described the “general rhetorical support” in Washington for Taiwan as “not enough”. When the proposed Taiwan Policy Act became US law as part of the 2023 annual defence bill last December, he said, the most important Taiwan-related security provisions were left out. The act had called for providing almost US$4.5 billion in security assistance over the next four years and designating Taiwan a “major non-Nato ally”. But the approved version only authorised up to US$2 billion in annual military grants from 2023 to 2027. Government officials and members of Congress across the political spectrum have expressed a “sense of urgency about China’s intentions towards Taiwan”, yet that sentiment was “not bridging the gap into an all-of-government response”, the US-Taiwan Business Council chief added. Last month US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed with CIA Director William Burns’ assessment that China seeks to be militarily capable to “invade” Taiwan by 2027. The announcement of the defence contractors’ trip comes amid fresh anger from China over Tsai’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this month in California. Beijing responded by holding military drills near Taiwan, and at least 35 PLA warplanes and eight ships were still operating around the island after war games officially ended on Monday, the Taiwanese defence ministry said on Wednesday. More Americans with ‘very unfavourable’ view of China: Pew survey China was earlier planning to impose a no-fly zone just north of the island from April 16 to 18, from 9am to 2pm each day, but reports later suggested that the closure was reduced to just 27 minutes on April 16. China’s state-owned publication China Daily reacted to the visit’s confirmation in an editorial on Thursday, saying “giving a green light to producing US weapons on the island means instant self-destruction”. “Washington too knows that the proposal would change the game beyond its control,” it warned. In response to the editorial, Hammond-Chambers said Beijing did not control the US-Taiwan Business Council and “we don’t seek Beijing’s direction on what we believe is in the interests of the US”. “We cooperate closely with the US government, whether it’s Republican or Democrat, and defence cooperation between the US and Taiwan is long established. And we hope to have some positive impact on growing that with this mission.”