...In April, Congress passed a $95 billion defense bill, with about $4 billion in potential Taiwan aid. Nearly half of that chunk is for replacing donated stocks.
The challenge now is for the Pentagon to deliver. This week, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin flew to Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security forum that draws leaders from across the region and beyond.
His schedule includes a meeting with his counterpart in China, which recently ran large military exercises around Taiwan — a rogue breakaway province in the eyes of leadership in Beijing.
(Scroll down farther for report fromTaipei Times)
As Austin travels, the Pentagon’s system used for sending aid to Taiwan is working through another cycle.
To accelerate that process, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks had formed a senior integration group for the Asian nation in 2022.
The secretive group, which gathers a cross-section of Pentagon leaders, met last week, according to a congressional aide. . .
The intensive visits are seen as Washington’s push to repair ties with Beijing, which have significantly deteriorated over rising competition on all fronts and tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns has told a virtual town hall that US-China relations have shifted: “We’re back communicating, and that’s essential … We’ve got to live in peace. We’ve got to find a way to communicate.” Photo: AFP
The U.S. Department of Defense has initiated the delivery of the first batch of Replicator drones, marking a significant advancement in its strategy to deploy thousands of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) by August 2025. Kathleen Hicks, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, highlighted that the initiative is producing tangible results, demonstrating the feasibility of innovation focused on combat effectiveness. Read more.
Defense News spoke to sources in Congress, the Pentagon and think tanks, as well as former government officials, to understand the future of U.S. support to Taiwan.
“The whole idea is for these guys [Taiwan] to … deter, and if deterrence is not an option, to be able to hold their own for a period of time,” a senior American defense official said.“Waiting until after the fact is not necessarily helpful.”
U.S. Department of Defense Begins Deliveries of Replicator Drones.
This first phase, named Replicator 1, is expected to last between 18 and 24 months and is seen as the initial iteration in a series of deployments.
Historically, the DOD has operated over 11,000 UAS in various settings for training, surveillance, and testing purposes. These range from the lightweight RQ-11B Raven to the much larger RQ-4 Global Hawk.
The DOD has also allocated $500 million from the fiscal year 2024 defense spending bill to support the Replicator program.
Among the first systems to benefit from this funding is the Switchblade-600, a loitering munition produced by Aerovironment, which has been used by Ukrainian forces and is designed to hover before striking a target.
While specific details about the types and destinations of the recently delivered systems remain classified, it is speculated that they could be deployed to strategic locations such as the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which oversees operations in a region crucial to American interests. As the program progresses, the DOD is seeking an additional $500 million for Replicator in next year’s budget, indicating the department's commitment to expanding this innovative project.
The US-China relationship is expected to loom over the dialogue, as are the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the South China Sea tensions.
During the meeting with Dong, Austin expressed concern about Chinese military activity near Taiwan, including after the nation’s presidential election and the inauguration of President William Lai (賴清德) last week, US Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said in a statement. “The secretary expressed concern about recent provocative PLA [People’s Liberation Army] activity around the Taiwan Strait, and he reiterated that the PRC [People’s Republic of China] should not use Taiwan’s political transition — part of a normal, routine democratic process — as a pretext for coercive measures,” Ryder said after the 75-minute meeting. Dong warned Austin that the US should not interfere in China’s affairs with Taiwan, Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) told reporters. The US approach to Taiwan violates commitments made by the US and sends the wrong signal to “separatist forces” in Taiwan, Wu quoted Dong as saying. However, both sides emphasized the importance of keeping military-to-military ties open, and a senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting marked an “important step” in opening lines of communication. The official said Austin was “firm, but professional” and also brought up China’s nuclear, space and cyber developments. The two sides also discussed the South China Sea and the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. Later yesterday, Marcos was expected to discuss the legal and geopolitical position of the Philippines on the South China Sea and note the importance of the waterway to global trade. China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, including parts claimed by Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, despite a 2016 ruling by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that found Beijing’s sweeping claims have no legal basis. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) yesterday told reporters in Taipei that increased tensions around the region would diminish if Beijing’s military drills ceased. “If China stops its provocation and intimidation, then peace and stability can be maintained,” he said. The region has seen a sharp uptick in such exercises in recent years, a report by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies released yesterday said. Although both the US and China have significantly increased the volume of military exercises across Asia, Beijing’s drills still lag in scale and complexity, the study found. The Shangri-La Dialogue, in its 21st iteration, is held every year in Singapore by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, gathering military and political leaders to discuss security issues.
China’s defence minister has addressed Asia’s top security summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue, where ties between Beijing and Washington have been dominating discussions.
Li Shangfu says the world is big enough for both the US and China to grow together.
China's defence minister speaks on 'record low' US ties | Al Jazeera Newsfeed
China’s Li says clash with US would bring ‘unbearable disaster’
At Asia security forum, Chinese defence minister says Beijing seeks dialogue with the US and warns against ‘NATO-like’ alliances in Pacific region.
Published On 4 Jun 20234 Jun 2023
"Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu has said Beijing seeks dialogue over confrontation with the United States, warning that any conflict between the two nations would bring “unbearable disaster for the world”.
Speaking at Asia’s top security summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue, Li said on Sunday that the world was big enough for China and the US to grow together.
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