The long shadow of delay

Excerpt

President Trump’s recent suggestion that he could use arms sales to Taiwan as a bargaining chip with China is a stark reminder of what a political issue arms sales to Taiwan can be. The Department of War’s comments that they are pausing the $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, supposedly due to the war in Iran, present a major concern that Mr. Trump is taking a dovish turn toward China.

But this is not the only challenge these arms sales face; they have been dogged by excessive delays for decades.

For more than a decade, Taiwan’s defense planning has lived with a structural contradiction. Washington regularly signals political support by approving arms sales, yet the actual delivery of those systems often arrives years later.

Jason Hsu served as a Member of Taiwan’s Legislature from 2016 to 2020 and is currently a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Rear Admiral (Ret.) U.S. Navy Mark Montgomery is a senior fellow at Foundation for Defense for Democracies.