US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is calling for faster delivery of weapons to Taiwan. He was speaking in an interview with Fox News Sunday and said the US should learn lessons from the Ukraine War. He suggested that Russia probably would not have invaded Ukraine if the US had supplied arms to Ukraine earlier and the US should not make the same mistake with Taiwan.
McCarthy said Taiwan has been waiting for more than a year for weapons they’ve already purchased to defend themselves. He said the US needs to help Taiwan strengthen its defenses as soon as possible.
Many top US officials have voiced support for Taiwan’s defense recently. On April 14, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US is concerned about China’s aim to unilaterally change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Sullivan said the US needs to use all possible measures to make sure China does not attack Taiwan.
At a congressional hearing on April 6, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Washington would use all the sanction tools at its disposal against China if it moved aggressively towards Taiwan. On the same day, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that the US maintains the ability to defend any threat to Taiwan’s security and the US does not accept China’s aims to take Taiwan.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Monday said it would continue to upgrade Taiwan’s ability to defend itself and strengthen alliances with like-minded countries.