Taiwan defense chief mum on Ukraine missile gift, pending arms sales

Taipei, Nov. 13 (CNA) Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) was tight-lipped Wednesday on reports that Taiwan has donated decommissioned missiles to Ukraine and plans to pursue a significant weapons purchase from Washington.

Forbes, citing former Pentagon official Tony Hu, reported on Tuesday that Taiwan has donated its surplus HAWK surface-to-air missile batteries to the Ukrainian air force.

Asked about the report on the sidelines of a legislative session in Taipei, Koo said the military no longer needed its decades-old HAWK missiles bought from the U.S. and was handling their decommissioning in accordance with related regulations.

"If the U.S. side asks [us] to transfer them [HAWK missiles] back to them, we will do so in accordance with the relevant regulations and return them to the U.S. Then the U.S. will decide itself what to do with them," he said, without elaborating.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a separate statement to CNA that the regulations Koo was referring to are specific regulations on the management of military items and equipment and the management of obsolete military equipment.

The U.S. side is entitled to request that Taiwan's decommissioned U.S.-made weapons systems be transferred back to the U.S. and handle them as they wish, based on related American government rules, the MND statement said.

Koo was also quizzed about a recent Financial Times report saying that Taiwan might be considering a large-scale weapons purchase, including Aegis destroyers, E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes, Patriot missiles, and F-35 fighter jets, to "show that they are serious" about defending Taiwan to the incoming Donald Trump administration.

He reiterated Taipei's stance that it is open to all available options to meet the nation's defensive needs.

Koo refrained, however, from identifying specific weapons systems Taiwan is thinking about procuring from the U.S. or confirming if any of them were those mentioned in the Financial Times article.

Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) responded to the Financial Times report Monday by saying that Taiwan was not currently engaged in new arms sale discussions.

"While Taiwan and the U.S. have maintained regular discussions and assessments regarding military needs, there are currently no new stages of discussions underway," she said in a statement.