CHINA WATCHU.S., Taiwan Defense to Firms Explore Weapons Co-Production
Defense contractors from the U.S. and Taiwan will next month resume in-person conversations to explore possibilities of co-producing weapons, a move likely to ignite protests from China. The Taiwan-US Defense Industry Forum will meet on May 3 in Taipei, with a focus on co-production, integrating Taiwan’s industrial capabilities, and a range of defense cooperation issues.
Defense contractors from the U.S. and Taiwan will resume in-person conversations next month to discuss possibilities of co-producing weapons, a move likely to ignite protests from China.
The meeting, a regular event derailed by the outbreak of COVID-19 in January 2020, comes during the ongoing Ukraine crisis and increasing tension in the Taiwan Strait.
The Taiwan-US Defense Industry Forum will meet on May 3 in Taipei, with a focus on co-production, integrating Taiwan’s industrial capabilities, and a range of defense cooperation issues, according to the U.S. Taiwan Business Council, or USTBC.
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, USTBC president, told VOA Mandarin on Monday in a telephone interview that topics on the agenda include post-purchase weapons delivery and research and development of future weapons. “Of course, the possibility that at some point in time, American weapons would be produced on the island under license,” he noted.
About 25 U.S. defense contractors are expected to send representatives to Taiwan, according to USTBC.
Hammond-Chambers told Nikkei Asia that Taiwan is interested in the co-production of airborne, surface and subsea drones, as well as ammunition. Several American defense contractors specializing in drone technology are scheduled to participate in the Taiwan trip.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not reply to a request for comment made by VOA Mandarin.
Government Approval
U.S. defense manufacturers typically need government approval before they can jointly produce weapons with overseas partners, and according to a Congressional Research Service report updated on March 23, the companies must apply for a Global Comprehensive Export Authorization before they are allowed to partner with “NATO countries, Australia, Japan, and/or Sweden for major defense article programs.” Taiwan is not mentioned in connection with the program.
Jordan Cohen, a defense and foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, told VOA Mandarin the U.S. government usually errs on the side of caution when deciding whether to endorse weapon co-production with international partners.
“Historically there has been opposition in the U.S. government, both because this type of intelligence sharing puts secret information at risk, and because it reduces price offsets, which means the U.S. will see less of the profit re-enter its own economy,” he told VOA Mandarin via email on April 14.
Randall Schriver, chairman of the board of the Project 2049 Institute and a former assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, agreed.
