Step by step, the United States increases its military aid to Taiwan

2023-09-02 20:00:18
Taiwanese soldiers, in Taipei, October 10, 2021. CHIANG YING-YING / AP

For the first time, Washington has decided to grant Taipei financial aid exclusively intended for the acquisition of American military equipment. Announced on August 30, this aid of 80 million dollars (73 million euros), rather modest in view of the tens of billions claimed for a long time by Taiwan, is nevertheless unprecedented. Stemming from the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, it is part of an important support mechanism, in the form of loans or grants, granted so far only to sovereign countries. Egypt and Israel are currently the main beneficiaries. Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Portugal, Pakistan, Yemen and even Greece have also been able, on an ad hoc basis, to have it.

The United States took another step this summer by announcing, on July 28, the transfer to Taiwan of arms worth 345 million dollars (320 million euros) directly taken from American military stocks. But these were essentially punctured in recent months to help Ukraine. A step, again, with a strong political charge, largely intended to silence criticism that support for kyiv would hinder that for Taipei.

The State Department was quick to point out that its latest aid package, through the FMF, did not involve “no recognition of Taiwan’s sovereignty”, but Beijing reacted immediately. This agreement “harms the security and benefits of the Taiwanese people”, castigated, on August 31, the spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Defense, Colonel Wu Qian. In July, China had already accused the United States of wanting to transform Taiwan into “powder magazine and ammunition depot”.

Backlog of unfulfilled military orders

In this tense context, few details have filtered through on the arms transfer envisaged by Washington. Unlike military support for Ukraine, which is regularly the subject of public lists, opacity reigns over the equipment promised to Taipei. In July, Washington only clarified that it was ” to strengthen [sa] deterrent capability, now and in the future”through, in particular, “anti-tank and air defense capabilities”. A statement interpreted by military experts as the probable dispatch of Stinger and Javelin missiles, which Taipei had long regretted were sent to kyiv as a priority.

However, this aid appears limited given the backlog of unfulfilled military orders placed in recent years by Taiwan in the United States, valued at 19 billion dollars. This backlog is linked to another export mechanism, called “Financial Military Sales” (FMS), which allows the purchase of American defense equipment in exchange for tax exemptions. Many European countries have used it since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to offset their donations to kyiv. But as the FMS is directly linked to the production capacities of the American industry and to the evolution of its priorities, it often generates delays.

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