Iran war is not delaying US weapons shipments to Taiwan, officials say

WASHINGTON - The war on Iran has not delayed shipments of weapons to Taiwan or changed US policy towards the island, officials from President Donald Trump’s administration told members of Congress on March 17, despite the demands of the intense air campaign.

“Have we delayed moving things to Taiwan? We haven’t,” Mr Stanley Brown, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, told a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

The US and Israel began air strikes against Iran on Feb 28, a campaign that has raised concerns among some American officials that the US defence industry would be unable to keep up with demand and could be forced to slow shipments to buyers such as Taiwan, which faces steadily rising military pressure from China.

There was already a multibillion-dollar backlog of US arms shipments to Taiwan before the Iran war started.

Mr Brown said the administration was looking at ways to expedite shipments, without providing specifics.

Speaking at the same hearing, Defence Security Cooperation Agency director Michael Miller said he signed a directive in 2023 to prioritise Taiwan above other buyers that may be in the queue for competing weapons purchases.

“That remains standing guidance. So, in the matter of whether there was a competition between provision of Harpoons to Saudi Arabia or to Taiwan, Taiwan would take priority,” he added, referring to the anti-ship missile.

“The provision of security cooperation, security assistance, to Taiwan is our top priority.”

Trip to China postponed

Several members of the House committee raised concerns about the island during the hearing, which took place on the day Mr Trump said he was postponing a highly anticipated trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Taiwan was one of the issues expected to be discussed by the two leaders.

China views Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to take the island under its control.

Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying that only the island’s people can decide their future.

China held its most recent war games around Taiwan in December, and its warships and warplanes regularly operate around the island.

Reuters reported last week that a major US arms package for Taiwan that included advanced interceptor missiles was ready for Mr Trump’s approval and could be signed after his trip to China.

With a price tag of about US$14 billion (S$17 billion), the arms deal would be the largest ever for the democratically governed island, which faces steadily rising military pressure from China.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the delay of the trip would affect the timing of that arms deal.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress have also been sparring bitterly over Mr Trump’s declarations of national emergencies in order to sidestep congressional review of foreign weapons sales.

It includes the decision this month to expedite the sale of US$650 million worth of bombs to Israel.

At the hearing, committee chairman Brian Mast of Florida and other Republicans accused Democrats of delaying crucial assistance to important allies as they face international threats.

Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the panel’s top Democrat, said that bypassing congressional review of major deals weakened human rights oversight. REUTERS