DEFENSE/Washington's new arms sales strategy good for Taiwan: U.S. expert

Washington, Feb. 7 (CNA) A U.S. defense expert has said that Washington's "America First Arms Transfer Strategy" is good for Taiwan but warned that continued delays in passing defense budgets could put Taiwan's status as a priority partner at risk.

Michael Hunzeker, an associate professor at George Mason University who studies Taiwan defense issues, said in emailed comments to CNA that "overall, I think that this new strategy is a positive development for Taiwan."

Hunzeker was referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's signing of an executive order titled "Establishing an America First Arms Transfer Strategy" on Friday.

The presidential action marks a policy shift toward prioritizing U.S. arms sales and transfers to partners with higher defense spending and greater strategic importance, replacing the long-standing first-come, first-served delivery approach.

Hunzeker said the policy addresses long-standing inefficiencies in U.S. arms sales, noting that in the past, when multiple allies purchased the same weapons systems, defense contractors did not always produce and deliver them in line with Washington's priorities.

He said the US$11 billion arms sales package for Taiwan announced last December was likely negotiated with this approach in mind and that delivery would probably be sped up if the Legislative Yuan approved a budget to pay for it.

Hunzeker said Taiwan appears to meet Washington's criteria as a "priority" partner, citing its prominence in U.S. strategic planning and the Lai Ching-te (賴清德) administration's public commitment to raise Taiwan's defense spending.

President Lai has said Taiwan's defense spending is expected to rise to 3.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year and that the government aims to increase the benchmark to 5 percent by 2030.

Hunzeker said, however, that both the U.S. executive branch and U.S. Congress are "clearly unhappy" that Taiwan's regular defense budget and special defense budget have been blocked in the Legislative Yuan.

He said the Trump administration places strong emphasis on defense burden sharing and expects allies and partners to "pull their own weight," warning that Taiwan could be excluded from the priority list if budgets sufficient to cover the arms sales are not approved.

U.S. lawmakers raised concerns in recent days over Taiwan's opposition parties blocking a special defense bill totaling NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.56 billion).

The Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's main opposition party, said in response that it supports reasonable arms procurement budgets and asked the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to accurately convey its position to the U.S. Congress.

The AIT represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

The KMT said it would immediately review the defense budget with the Taiwan People's Party if the Democratic Progressive Party-led government would budget for pay raises for serving military personnel.