China’s neighbors are buying US weapons Washington isn’t delivering

China’s neighbors are buying US weapons Washington isn’t delivering

Even though the United States views these weapons sales as integral to deterring China from attacking Taiwan, some of the deals were publicly announced as far back as 2017.

The reasons – government delays, supply chain issues and production requirements – are numerous, and the problem won’t be easy to fix, Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Defense News.

The U.S. government has approved the sale of 10 weapons systems Taiwan has yet to receive – some of which are not slated for delivery until the end of the decade.

The United States has flooded billions of dollars in weapons into Ukraine, including items that are part of Taiwan’s backlog, such as Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and High Mobile Artillery Rocket Systems.

For example, several Middle Eastern and eastern European countries are ahead of Taiwan in Lockheed Martin’s F-16 production queue. In 2019, the State Department approved an $8 billion Taiwan sale for 66 F-16s, but Taipei does not expect to receive the aircraft until 2026.

Saudi Arabia is still ahead of Taiwan on the priority list in some cases,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., told Defense News ahead of a July meeting with Taiwan’s Washington envoy. “We need to take a look at that.”

Taiwan bill looms, and it could pose ‘direct challenge’ for US-China ties

•Tensions are high, and the White House has tried to delay the Taiwan Policy Act that aims to upgrade ties with the island by designating it as a major non-Nato ally

•Observers say the bill ‘would overturn Sino-US relations’ and could prompt a stronger response from Beijing than House Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taipei

Taiwan bill looms, and it could pose ‘direct challenge’ for US-China ties

Can the US Credibly Condemn Russian Attacks on Civilians?

As someone who has written about multiple wars the US has engaged in, I’d have to say the US has no moral authority to condemn another nation on civilian casualties. I don’t think there is another nation on this planet, in our more ‘modern times’ that has killed more civilians than the US. That’s just reality.

Can the US Credibly Condemn Russian Attacks on Civilians?

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Annexing Raqqa- Ethnic Cleansing & Where’s ISIS?

Is the US embassy in China recruiting ‘traitors’?

Is the US embassy in China recruiting ‘traitors’?

Of course they are: Origins of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, 1949-1950

Give me a hundred million dollars and a thousand dedicated people, and I will guarantee to generate such a wave of democratic unrest among the masses–yes, even among the soldiers–of Stalin’s own empire, that all his problems for a long period of time to come will be internal. I can find the people.

Sidney Hook, 1949

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Congress’s fixation with China’s ‘malign influence’ undermines Americans’ civil liberties and security

Section 136, which also is not included in the McCaul bill, would authorize appropriations totaling $500 million over FY22-26 not only to support U.S. state media such as Radio Free Asia, but also to fund training for “local media” and “independent media,” in efforts to “combat Chinese disinformation.” Funds would target coverage aimed at discrediting Chinese activities such as the Belt and Road Initiative.