Taiwan may see US arms deals fall through for first time because of legislative deadlock
Defence minister appeals to lawmakers to back US$40 billion spending plan before the arms deals with the US expire next month
The unprecedented situation has prompted Defence Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung to urge opposition lawmakers to give the budget emergency authorisation ahead of a March 15 deadline, when letters of offer and acceptance for three arms deals will expire.
If the deals – to buy M109A7 self-propelled howitzers and Javelin and Tow anti-tank missiles – expire, it would be the first time that Taiwan has missed out on US arms purchases because of legislative deadlock rather than hesitation in Washington.
Su Tzu-yun, a senior analyst at the government-funded Institute for National Defence and Security Research, said failure to sign the letters of offer and acceptance on time would damage international confidence in Taiwan’s willingness to defend itself.
Su compared the situation to “taking a number at a hospital and missing your turn – you have to queue again”.
He added that the island could “lose priority in the procurement line for systems such as the M109A7 howitzers and Himars multiple-launch rocket systems” while other approved buyers such as Bahrain and Norway overtook it.