Taiwan notes that its orders of American anti-air missiles and artillery systems are delayed due to Ukraine.

 

File photo of US soldiers and a stinger missile. Reuters.

Taiwan has noted that shipments of anti-aircraft Stinger missiles and artillery systems have been delayed due to the war in Ukraine. Reuters. The Stinger missiles have been largely depleted due to major shipments to Ukraine. Taiwan had ordered 250 of the missiles, used to shoot down aircraft, in 2019 but they fear shipments will be delayed. An order of 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks will continue as normal but Taiwan's delivery of M109A6 Paladin self propelled artillery system has been delayed due to crowded production lines. Taiwan is under major threat from China who considers Taiwan as a breakaway province. 

My Comment:

I have always said that China is a much bigger threat to the United States that Russia could ever hope to be. Sending unlimited weapons to Ukraine is a bad deal for many reasons but this is one that could really end up biting us.   

It is very clear that China has designs on Taiwan. They have considered Taiwan not as a separate country but as a breakaway province since the end of their civil war. The fact that people are unable to admit that Taiwan is a separate country now and has been for a long time shows just how powerful China is. 

I don't think China is ready to invade Taiwan just yet. They still haven't built up their fleet and transport ships enough. It will still take them a few years to build the capability to safely transport the tens of thousands of troops they would need to capture the island. But the day is coming soon. They will probably have the capability to invade Taiwan in just a few years. 

Whether that attack succeeds or not largely depends on if Taiwan gets the weapons they need to defend themselves. Unlike Ukraine, I do think there is a realistic chance of Taiwan winning a war against China, given the difficulty of invading an island plus the guarantee of US support. But if they don't have these weapons it will be a lot harder to do so. 

Given that we are committed to defend Taiwan giving Taiwan as many weapons as they need is in our direct interest. If they have these Stingers and Paladins they won't need US reinforcements as bad. They might be able to win the war themselves without our help if they have the weapons to do so. 

But now? It's clear that they won't have these weapons when they need them because they are being wasted on Ukraine. They might be able to source some of these weapons from other countries but the fact that all of Europe is wasting their weapons on Ukraine means finding support will be very difficult.