TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – US arms sales to Taiwan ultimately depend on President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday.
He was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a conference devoted to defense and security issues in the Indo-Pacific region. He also added that US policy on issues related to Taiwan had not changed, CNA reported.
After visiting China May 13-15, Trump said he would soon decide on a package of US arms sales to Taiwan, and might want to speak directly with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德). However, there has been no indication since when the two presidents might conduct a phone conversation.
In a separate speech at the Shangri-La forum, Hegseth did not mention Taiwan by name but emphasized burden sharing and collective defense to maintain stability in the region. The US was asking countries in the region to what they were already eager to do, invest in their own defense and contribute more to collective security, he said.
The defense secretary said the US approach in the Pacific centered on deterrence by denial along the first island chain. The US aimed to build and sustain a strong denial defense in the Western Pacific that ensured “aggression is infeasible, escalation unattractive, and war deemed irrational,” Hegseth said.
Responding to his speech, Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said Taiwan will continue to strengthen its capability to defend itself, per CNA. Close military cooperation and exchanges between Taiwan and the US will continue, the minister said. The government will fulfill its duties and responsibilities to its regional partners maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to Koo.
