Taiwan’s arms sales concerns will be conveyed, ex-US defence chief says

Mark Esper, the former defence secretary under Donald Trump, is on a four-day visit to Taiwan

Meetings with Taiwanese officials revealed concerns about the speed of arms sales, which he will relay to Washington, Esper says

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Former US defence secretary Mark Esper arrives at a press conference in Taipei on July 19. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:21pm, 21 Jul 2022Updated: 3:50pm, 21 Jul 2022

Former US defence secretary Mark Esper, who is currently visiting Taiwan, said he would take back to Washington the island’s concerns about the speed of arms sales and the need to get greater access to weapons like portable missiles.

Taiwan has previously talked of problems accessing some US weapons it has on order, like shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, and has complained of stepped-up military pressure from Beijing to force it into accepting its sovereignty claims.

The missiles are in great demand in Ukraine, where they have been keeping Russian aircraft at bay, but US supplies have shrunk and producing more of the anti-aircraft weapons has faced significant hurdles due to limited manufacturing capacity.

Esper, who arrived in Taipei on Monday under the auspices of the Atlantic Council think-tank, has had meetings with senior Taiwanese leaders including President Tsai Ing-wen.

He said he did not get the sense that Taiwanese officials were frustrated at what arms were on offer from Washington.

“I didn’t pick up any frustration other than the speed at which we conduct arms sales,” he told reporters in Taipei. “There was an expression of the need to get greater access to weapons such as the Javelin and the Stinger.”

The Javelin is an anti-tank weapon that Taiwan also uses, and is being used in Ukraine.