This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
The United States will not rule out the possibility of jointly producing weapons with Taiwan, said the highest-ranking American diplomat in Taipei, adding that the need to defend the island is a top priority for U.S. arms suppliers.
The U.S. is Taiwan’s most important international supporter and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal ties, said Raymond Greene, the newly appointed director of the American Institute in Taiwan, or AIT, and the de facto U.S. ambassador to Taiwan.
Greene took up the role in July. He was previously deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo.
“The U.S. is currently working with many partners who are looking at expanding our joint production of military supplies, and I do not rule out Taiwan being one of those partners in the future,” Green told the reporters on Wednesday.
He did not elaborate on what type of weapons could be produced but said keeping a “strategic balance” in the region would foster cross-strait relations. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that should be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
The democratic island has been self-governing since it effectively separated from mainland China in 1949 after the Chinese civil war.
China has dialed up diplomatic, economic and military pressure on the island since former president Tsai Ing-wen’s administration came to power in 2016. Tsai, a member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, refused to acknowledge that Taiwan and the mainland belonged to “One China.”
In May, Beijing held war games around Taiwan following the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, another DPP member who Beijing calls a “separatist.”
Lai won a January election despite Beijing’s fierce opposition to his bid, on a platform of promoting peace in the Taiwan Strait while not compromising on claims of Taiwanese sovereignty.
The U.S. government has also taken action to tackle China’s stepped-up pressure on Taiwan.
In April, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law a bill providing $95 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other U.S. partners. Out of the $95 billion, $8 billion was dedicated to the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan.
Separately in June, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an appropriations bill for the 2025 fiscal year that included $500 million in Foreign Military Financing for Taiwan to strengthen military deterrence against China and up to $2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose.
The former AIT director, Sandra Oudkirk, acknowledged in June that the U.S. manufacturing sector, including military equipment and weapons production, was impacted by supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a delay in the delivery of arms purchased by Taiwan.
But she said these problems were “unwinding” and the AIT “looked forward to the delivery of the military capabilities that Taiwan has purchased over the past several years.”
