The United States will not sacrifice its relations with Taiwan despite increased military cooperation between the US and China. That’s the word from US State Department official Todd Chapman at the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference on Monday.
At the conference, Taiwanese professor in strategic studies, Alexander Huang, said the US is unlikely to agree on arms sales to Taiwan in the next two years. That’s because the two major political parties in the US have differing views on the issue. Huang said the US is willing to help if Taiwan is able to start building its own weapons. But he also said both US parties look forward to new plans regarding arms sales to Taiwan starting 2017.
In the meantime, Chapman said the US also hopes that there can be more cooperation in disaster relief work with Taiwan. He also said that the US re-pivot to Asia is a long-term US commitment.