NEW YORK, November 28. /TASS/. The US government is concerned that it won’t be able to supply enough weapons to Taiwan because most of its military support has been redirected to Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
According to the newspaper, Washington is $18.7 bln behind on its deliveries to Taiwan. For instance, it still has not sent to the island any of 208 Javelin antitank weapons or 215 surface-to-air Stinger missiles.
The Wall Street Journal says that Washington has failed to deliver almost $5 bln worth of weapons this year. That said, neither the Pentagon, nor the Department of State would acknowledge the backlog.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine. Following this, the US and its allies announced sweeping sanctions against Russia and stepped up arms deliveries to Kiev.
Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the remaining Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled to the island after suffering a defeat in China’s civil war. Since then, Taiwan has preserved the flag and some other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed in mainland China before the Communists came to power. Beijing regards the island as one of its provinces and this position is supported by most countries, including Russia.
The US severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 and established them with China. While recognizing the "One China" policy, Washington continues to maintain contacts with the island and supply it with weapons. This causes protest of mainland China which considers Taiwan part of its territory and resolutely warns against any separatist aspirations. Tensions in the Taiwan Strait have sharply increased following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei on August 2-3.