Iran war is not delaying US weapons shipments to Taiwan, officials say

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) — The war on Iran has not delayed shipments of weapons to Taiwan or changed U.S. policy toward the island, officials from President Donald Trump’s administration told members of Congress on Tuesday, despite the demands of the intense air campaign.

“Have we delayed moving things to Taiwan? We haven’t,” Stanley Brown, principal deputy assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, told a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

The U.S. and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28, a campaign that has raised concerns among some U.S. officials that the U.S. defense industry would be unable to keep up with demand and could be forced to slow shipments to buyers such as Taiwan, which faces steadily rising military pressure from China.

There was already a multi-billion-dollar backlog of U.S. arms shipments to Taiwan before the Iran war started. Brown said the administration was looking at ways to expedite shipments, without providing specifics.

Trip to China postponed

Several members of the House committee raised concerns about the island during the hearing, which took place on the day Trump said he was postponing a highly anticipated trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Taiwan was one of the issues expected to be discussed by the two leaders.

China views Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to take the island under its control. Taiwan rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

China held its most recent war games around Taiwan in December, and its warships and warplanes regularly operate around the island.

Reuters reported last week that a major U.S. arms package for Taiwan that included advanced interceptor missiles was ready for Trump’s approval and could be signed after his trip to China. With a price tag of about $14 billion, the arms deal would be the largest ever for the democratically governed island, which faces steadily rising military pressure from China.

It was not immediately clear whether the trip’s delay would affect the timing of that arms deal.

Trump’s Republicans and Democrats in Congress have also been sparring bitterly over Trump’s declarations of national emergencies in order to sidestep congressional review of foreign weapons sales, including the decision this month to expedite the sale of $650 million worth of bombs to Israel.

At the hearing, committee Chairman Brian Mast of Florida and other Republicans accused Democrats of delaying crucial assistance to important allies as they face international threats.

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the panel’s top Democrat, said that bypassing congressional review of major deals weakened human rights oversight.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Michael Martina; Editing by Alison Williams)

华盛顿，3月17日（路透社）——尽管伊朗空袭行动十分猛烈，但美国总统唐纳德·特朗普政府的官员周二告诉国会议员，对伊朗的战争并没有延迟向台湾运送武器，也没有改变美国对台湾的政策。

“我们推迟了向台湾转移物资吗？没有。”美国负责政治军事事务的首席副助理国务卿斯坦利·布朗在众议院外交事务委员会的听证会上表示。

美国和以色列于 2 月 28 日开始对伊朗进行空袭，这场行动引起了一些美国官员的担忧，他们担心美国国防工业将无法满足需求，并可能被迫放慢对台湾等买家的出货速度，而台湾正面临来自中国不断增加的军事压力。

在伊朗战争爆发前，美国对台军售就已经积压了数十亿美元。布朗表示，政府正在研究加快军售交付的途径，但没有提供具体细节。

赴华行程延期

在听证会上，众议院委员会的几名成员对该岛表示担忧。听证会当天，特朗普宣布推迟备受瞩目的北京之行，该行程原本是与中国国家主席习近平会面。

台湾问题是预计两位领导人将要讨论的问题之一。

中国视台湾为其领土的一部分，从未放弃使用武力收复台湾。台湾拒绝接受北京的主权声索，并表示只有岛民才能决定自己的未来。

中国最近一次在台湾附近举行军事演习是在去年12月，其军舰和战机也经常在台湾岛附近活动。

路透社上周报道称，一项包含先进拦截导弹的大型美国对台军售方案已准备就绪，只待特朗普批准，并可能在他访华后签署。这笔价值约140亿美元的军售案将成为迄今为止对这个民主治理的岛屿的最大一笔交易。台湾正面临着来自中国日益增长的军事压力。

目前尚不清楚此次行程的延误是否会影响这笔军火交易的达成时间。

特朗普在国会的共和党人和民主党人也一直在就特朗普宣布国家紧急状态以规避国会审查对外武器销售一事激烈争论，其中包括本月决定加快向以色列出售价值 6.5 亿美元的炸弹。

在听证会上，委员会主席、佛罗里达州的布莱恩·马斯特和其他共和党人指责民主党人拖延向面临国际威胁的重要盟友提供关键援助。

纽约州众议员格雷戈里·米克斯是该委员会的首席民主党成员，他表示，绕过国会审查重大交易会削弱人权监督。

（Patricia Zengerle 和 Michael Martina 报道；Alison Williams 编辑）