The annual US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference for this year kicked off on the 22nd, with the delegation from the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China led by Deputy Minister of Armaments Xu Yanpu in attendance. Jedidiah Royal, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs at the US Department of Defense, is also expected to deliver a speech. The conference will cover topics including countering gray zone strategies and enhancing Taiwan’s deterrent defense capabilities.
The 23rd US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, as reported by the Central News Agency, began on the 22nd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and will last for 3 days, with the official conference commencing on the 23rd. Xu Yanpu, Jedidiah Royal who has represented the US Department of Defense in previous years, and officials from the US State Department will each address the conference with keynote speeches.
Representatives from Taiwan’s three major political parties are also in attendance, including Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chao Yixiang, DPP Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Shaw Sun-wen; Kuomintang (KMT) legislators Hsu Chia-hsin and Huang Chieh-cheng, Director of the International Department, retired Air Force Major General Tian Tsai-mo; and People First Party legislator Huang Shanshan. Huang Chieh-cheng is also scheduled to deliver a keynote speech during the conference.
This year marks the 23rd edition of the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, which is set to address 5 main themes. These include forming regional and global alliances to address threats faced by Taiwan, cooperation between the Taiwanese and American governments and industries to counter the gray zone situation in the Taiwan Strait, providing adequate resources to enhance Taiwan’s defense and deterrence capabilities, how Taiwan should respond to coercion such as blockades or isolations, and the impact of the US election on US-Taiwan relations in terms of arms sales, joint production of weapons, and delayed arms deliveries.
Organized by the US-Taiwan Business Council since 2002, the conference invites officials, defense industry manufacturers, and think tank scholars from Taiwan and the US each year to discuss defense cooperation between the two countries, defense procurement processes, and Taiwan’s defense and national security needs.
The US-Taiwan Business Council recently stated through a press release that since President Biden took office, the $5.709 billion Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Taiwan is the lowest point since the 4-year freeze on arms sales under former President Obama from 2011 to 2015.
The press release also noted that the amount of arms sales to Taiwan approved by Biden has been declining year by year – $21.4 billion in 2022, $18.6 billion in 2023, and $9.6 billion in 2024. The $750 million arms sales case approved by Biden in 2021 was mostly a carryover from the Trump administration’s handling.
“The level of US support for Taiwan’s military modernization has been weakening since 2021.”
Regarding the reasons for this decline, Rupert Hammond-Chambers, the president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, told the media that he is also unsure. On one hand, the US government says that the threats faced by Taiwan have never been this serious, and Taiwan’s defense budget is increasing. The US should increase its arms sales to Taiwan or at least maintain them at a certain level, and he hopes to find answers from the discussions at the conference on the 23rd and 24th.
During Biden’s tenure, additional military assistance to Taiwan has been provided through Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). The US-Taiwan Business Council pointed out that these new approaches should serve to increase the security assistance provided to Taiwan by the US, rather than replacing arms sales to Taiwan.
(Courtesy of Central News Agency)