[Global Times reporter Zhang Ruo] The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on the 5th that it approved the sale of the "Patriot Project Personnel Technical Assistance Case" for a total price of US$95 million (about NT$2.724 billion).
This is the third time in the Biden administration and the second time this year that arms sales have been made to Taiwan.
Since the U.S. and Taiwan "severed diplomatic ties" in 1979, while the U.S. issued the "Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations" and the "August 17 Communiqué" with the mainland, the U.S. has also enacted the "Taiwan Relations Act" and the "Six Guarantees" to support arms sales to Taiwan. Making excuses will bring huge hidden dangers to peace across the Taiwan Strait.
So far, there have been more than 100 arms sales to Taiwan
After the United States "broken off diplomatic relations" with the Taiwan authorities in 1979, President Carter announced the first arms sale to Taiwan in July of that year, selling 48 F-5E/F fighter jets to Taiwan with a total value of US$160 million.
Now that 43 years have passed, the United States has announced 107 arms sales to Taiwan.
Trump is particularly keen to do arms deals with the Taiwan authorities, and has repeatedly set records.
During his four years in power, he has announced arms sales to Taiwan almost every year.
For example, in June 2017, it announced the sale of 50 anti-radiation missiles, 56 Joint Range Outer Weapons (JSOW) air-to-surface missiles, 46 MK48 torpedoes, 16 "Standard 2" missiles, etc., with a total value of 1.42 billion US dollars; 2018 In September 2018, it announced the sale of Taiwan F-16 fighter jets, C-130 transport aircraft, F-5 fighter jets, 5-year standard aviation spare parts and related logistics support systems for the "Jingguo" fighter jets, with a total amount of 330 million US dollars; announced in 2019 U.S. Luke Base F-16 fighter pilot training and logistics maintenance contract, worth 500 million US dollars.
In four years, the Trump administration has made 11 arms sales to Taiwan, a figure far exceeding the total of the previous eight years of Obama's administration.
In terms of amount, Trump has accumulated nearly $20 billion in arms sales to Taiwan during his tenure.
This also made him the US president with the highest total arms sales to Taiwan in one term.
In August 2019, he approved a sale of 66 F-16V fighter jets worth as much as $8 billion, which is also the largest single US arms sale to Taiwan to date.
It is also worth mentioning that after Trump announced the last arms sale of his term in December 2020, the field information and communication system, his arms sales to Taiwan have covered various systems of sea, land and air.
Since Biden took office, he has announced arms sales to Taiwan three times.
The first arms sales, announced in August 2021, include M109A6 Paladin self-propelled guns, M992A2 ammunition supply vehicles and M88A2 relief vehicles, with a total value of $750 million.
On February 7 this year, DSCA announced to approve the sale of the Patriot missile project to Taiwan. The United States continued to send technical representatives to Taiwan to evaluate and maintain the Patriot, with a budget of US$100 million.
The difference between it and the April arms sale is that the arms sale in February was mainly equipment and services for the missile engineering service and the effectiveness testing program, while the arms sale this time sent professionals to Taiwan to provide technical support.
Taiwan has changed from a "fortress" to a "porcupine"
For a long time, the United States mainly sold defensive weapons and restricted the sale of offensive weapons, trying to arm Taiwan into a "fortress".
But Trump sold a lot of "offensive weapons", such as anti-radiation missiles, heavy torpedoes, and even F-16V fighter jets and MQ-9B drones, which have surpassed Taiwan's defense level.
Among them, in October 2020, the U.S. State Department approved three arms sales cases to Taiwan, with a total value of about 1.8113 billion US dollars. The weapons involved include the Haimas multiple rocket system, the extended-range land attack missile and the F-16 new reconnaissance pod. The cabin is considered to be the most offensive weapon in the US-Taiwan arms sales case since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US, and has a tendency to turn Taiwan from a "fortress" into a "porcupine".
Former U.S. National Security Adviser O'Brien once said he encouraged Taiwan to buy more weapons from the United States and turn itself into a "porcupine", while lions usually don't eat porcupines.
Chen Yixin, a scholar at Tamkang University, analyzed that the US's "strategic ambiguity" has not become "strategic clarity", and it has no intention of sending troops to defend Taiwan, but the US arms sales to Taiwan have changed from mainly defensive weapons to both offensive and defensive. The nature of the weapon has changed.
When Taiwan changes from the "hedgehog strategy" to the "porcupine strategy", it means that the Taiwanese army will change from "small and beautiful" to "small and strong", posing a greater threat to the PLA.
In recent years, the United States has placed particular emphasis on "asymmetrical combat power."
In mid-March, Taiwanese media reported that Taiwan's "Naval Command" promoted the purchase of 12 anti-submarine helicopters from the United States in the name of the "Shenying 3 Plan".
As a result, the rumors were rejected by the United States, mainly because the United States felt that it was not in line with the principle of developing "asymmetrical combat power".
As for the US arms sales model to Taiwan, since Taiwan and the US "severed diplomatic ties" in 1979 until the Bush administration announced three arms sales to Taiwan including submarines in 2001, Taiwan and the US basically hold arms sales meetings in April every year.
Before that, the Taiwan military will first send officials at the "deputy chief of staff" level to lead a delegation to the United States to hand over the list of weapons and equipment that Taiwan wants to purchase to the Pentagon.
The United States usually adopts a "packaged" review and announcement, that is, tying together a number of weapons to be procured by the Taiwan military in stages, and then approving and publishing it at one time. Usually, the interval between each arms sale ranges from one year to several years. Wait.
It is now changed to a "case by case" model, ie review and declaration one by one.
America says one thing does another, full of calculations
In the statement of the United States announcing arms sales to Taiwan and expressing gratitude to the Taiwan authorities, two terms often appear - "Taiwan Relations Act" and "Six Assurances".
The "Taiwan Relations Act" was signed by then-President Carter after the United States announced that it had "severed diplomatic ties" with the Taiwan authorities and established diplomatic relations with the mainland. It was used to "regulate" U.S.-Taiwan relations. Defensive materiel and defensive services in quantities required for self-defense capability".
The "six guarantees" are the "guarantees" made by the US government to the Taiwan authorities when it signed the August 17 Communiqué with the government of the People's Republic of China in 1982.
It includes that the United States has not agreed to set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, has not agreed to consult the People's Republic of China on the issue of arms sales to Taiwan, will not act as a mediator between Taipei and Beijing, and has not agreed to amend the Taiwan Relations Act , did not change its position on Taiwan's "sovereignty" and "will not put pressure on Taiwan to negotiate with the People's Republic of China."
There are other versions of the so-called "six guarantees", but they are basically the same.
In October 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a draft resolution "reaffirming that the Six Assurances and the Taiwan Relations Act are important cornerstones of U.S.-Taiwan relations."
The "August 17 Communiqué" signed by the United States and the mainland stated that "(the United States) is ready to gradually reduce its arms sales to Taiwan" and "finally resolve it after a period of time".
That is to say, while China and the United States issued the "Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations" and the "August 17 Communiqué", the United States concocted the "Taiwan Relations Act" and the "Six Assurances", both of which run counter to the three Sino-US joint communiqués. It is illegal and void to place U.S. domestic law above international obligations.
This also shows that the United States says one thing and does another, and has no political integrity.
Arms sales are a big money pit for Taiwanese people.
The DPP authorities also proposed the so-called "Special Regulations on the Procurement of Sea and Air Combat Power Enhancement Plans", which set up a special budget of NT$240 billion for the purchase of missiles and air defense systems in the next five years.
Some netizens on the island sarcastically said that the DPP authorities are going to use missiles to wipe out the high "debt"?
In response to the US arms sales to Taiwan, the mainland has repeatedly stated that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. It strongly demands that the US immediately withdraw its arms sales plan to Taiwan and stop sending wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.
The future of Taiwan and the security, interests and well-being of Taiwan compatriots lie in the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and national reunification, and relying on "empty promises" from external forces, Taiwan cannot avoid the fate of changing from a "chess piece" to an "abandoned piece."