The president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives, Michael McCaul, He assured this Monday that the shipment of weapons to Taiwan will be reactivated “as soon as possible”, after the Low camera of his country to approve a military financing package for the island.
“I’m still talking about it with the secretary of Statewith the secretary of Defendingwith the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT, Washington’s de facto embassy in Taiwan) and we are making progress on (the shipment of) these weapons systems. I would like it to be faster, but they are yet to come,” said the Republican legislator at a press conference in Taipeiwhere he traveled accompanied by five other congressmen.
During his appearance, McCaul pointed out that this military aid package, whose value is estimated at 2 billion dollars (about 1,840 million euros), will be managed “much faster” than previous arms sales.
“Since I have become chairman (of the Foreign Affairs Committee), we have had to wait a period of two to five years (to complete arms shipments), and I think that is too long. In the case of Taiwan, that is too much,” said McCaul, who promised that Taiwan will receive weapons equipped with “the latest technology.”
The Republican congressman also referred to the recent military maneuvers deployed by China around Taiwan and its outlying archipelagos following the takeover of William Lai (Lai Ching-te) as Taiwanese president, exercises that demonstrate the “urgency” of strengthening Taipei’s “deterrence” capacity.
“There should be no doubt, no skepticism, in the US, Taiwan or anywhere in the world, about the American commitment to maintaining the status quo and peace in the Taiwan Strait. “The United States is completely determined to (improve) deterrence and support Taiwan militarily, diplomatically and economically,” he stated, for his part. Andy Barrco-chair of the Taiwan caucus in the US House of Representatives.
McCaul, Barr and four other US congressmen landed in Taiwan this Sunday for a four-day visit to the island, where they will meet with “senior leaders” and members of civil society to address US-Taiwan relationsregional security, bilateral trade and investment, according to a statement released by the AIT.
One of the first items on their agenda was the meeting with the new Taiwanese president, who received them this Monday at the Taipei Presidential Palace.
“I hope that, with your support, the United States Congress continue to approve legislative actions to help Taiwan strengthen its defense capabilities and improve the relationship between Taiwan and the United States,” Lai stressed during the meeting, in which he reiterated the “determination” of the Taiwanese people to “defend their homeland.”
The visits of American representatives to Taiwan have been constant in the last two years and have remained even after the crisis between Beijing and Washington caused by the trip to Taipei in August 2022 of the then speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosiwhich angered China.
Taiwan – where the Chinese nationalist army withdrew after defeat by communist troops in the civil war – has been governed autonomously since 1949, although China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a rebellious province for whose ‘reunification’ has not ruled out the use of force.
(With information from EFE)
