Conservative lawmakers threw a bill on the table, July 1, holding Joe Biden accountable for the arms we sold Taiwan but never delivered. Like those stingers which have been in limbo for years. There’s a “mounting sense of urgency” to get weapons into the hands of Taiwan before China invades the disputed island territory to re-secure what Xi Jinping claims as already his.
Biden sitting on Taiwan’s weapons
Republican House lawmakers introduced some new legislation, so CNN took a couple of their staffers out for lunch. The bill forces Joe Biden and Blinky Blinken to “provide Congress with a detailed report on the status of major arms sales to Taiwan.” The congressional offices are abuzz with a “mounting sense of urgency about getting Taiwan the weapons it would need to fend off a potential Chinese invasion.”
The staffers say their bosses are looking into whether maybe some of Taiwan’s weapons got sent off to Ukraine instead. Even if not, there seems to be more of a strain on supply than the administration is letting on. That could end up affecting our national security in a big way. Even the rumors of it are dangerous.
Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of heavy arms have already been paid for by Taiwan. Every time they call Joe Biden to check on delivery, the palace customer service department tells them to try again later. It’s like they’re afraid to say something along the lines of “thanks to Pete Buttigieg, the processor microchips needed to build the weapons are stuck on a container ship.”
The ship is still anchored in Shanghai, China because Long Beach won’t be ready to unload it for months. They sit home in China because it’s not as bad as sitting at anchor off California.
According to one “congressional aide,” their hope is to “pull back the curtain” on “what is contributing to the delay.” That way they can “come up with solutions to expedite deliveries.” It’s normal, the aide notes, for the process to take years on any big arms deal.
Even so, “there is one sale of stingers to Taiwan that was notified to Congress in 2016, but the production of the weapons has not even begun.” Joe Biden is strangely silent. Not only that, “just two months ago, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced that a delivery of US howitzers was expected to be delayed by years, pushing delivery to 2026 at the earliest.”
Weapons don’t grow on trees
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a major war,” the second aide added. “There are now consequences for production and deliveries and strategic decisions. Weapons don’t grow on trees. We are sure the administration is talking about this immense challenge, we need to see what the real facts are and what the decisions are.”
Pete Buttigieg is in hiding, Antony Blinken keeps throwing more gas on the bonfire by teasing China on an almost daily basis. Biden knows that things would not be close to the same as what happened in Ukraine if Xi invaded Taiwan.
First of all Biden dutifully agrees that under the “one China” policy, Taiwan is theirs. Second, Taiwan is on their own if it happens.
“With Ukraine we saw the U.S. government get energized and move at a pace that isn’t normally done unless it is an emergency situation, but that may not be the circumstances in a Taiwan scenario. So you need to be thinking before that emergency is underway, it will likely be impossible to resupply Taiwan once an invasion occurs,” the second aide explained.
The bill to get Biden to cough up an update was sponsored by Young Kim of California and Michael McCaul of Texas. “The Arms Exports Delivery Solutions Act ensures that defense equipment already purchased from the U.S. by Taiwan and other allies in the region are tracked and delivered as efficiently as possible as the Chinese Communist Party eyes further aggression. I will do all I can to ensure the United States remains a leader on the world stage,” Kim promises.
“Delayed deliveries of Congressionally-approved sales to Taiwan are undermining our ability to deter an attack from China. This is incredibly concerning as China ramps up its belligerence towards Taiwan,” McCaul added.
