Taiwan Should Take Advantage of RTX Overcharging for Arms

According to a newspaper report, the American company RTX, formerly known as Raytheon, is suspected of overcharging for arms. It has already reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, causing an uproar among people from all walks of life. Previously, when the U.S. provided arms to support Taiwan, it gave them moldy body armor and expired ammunition. Now, arms dealers are quoting high prices, which leads many to wonder whether the U.S. really wants to help Taiwan or simply take advantage of its crisis to sell arms.

Since Taiwan relies on the U.S. for arms, it is fundamentally a seller’s market; that is, whatever the U.S. says, goes. The aforementioned arms assistance and high pricing by arms dealers were actually exposed by internal U.S. overseers. Only after the media published this did we know that the Taiwanese government was completely unable to uncover this, and Taiwanese representative offices overseas were also powerless to do anything. Those in the high levels of government should thank these overseers publicly for helping Taiwan protect itself.

Although a weak country has no diplomatic power, Taiwan should still issue a stern statement about the moldy body armor. First, it should have postponed the receipt of this shipment. Second, it should create an inspection mechanism or send someone to inspect shipments. As for high quoted prices for missile systems, Taiwan should request details about the Patriot missile systems purchased since the “three arms packages,” in addition to expressing dissatisfaction toward the U.S. After all, this overcharging incident has already damaged RTX’s image, and so naturally, all records of its previous transactions with Taiwan should be investigated.

Although Taiwan has no way to punish American businesses, it should still take advantage of the approaching election to spread the word that the U.S. does not take its Indo-Pacific strategy seriously and is hurting the interests of countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, the record high U.S. arms sales are based on inflated sums of money. The U.S. must rectify this with good will and good faith. For example, it should pressure RTX in the plea bargain to extend the maintenance period for Taiwan’s Patriot missile systems or suspend the fees for technicians who visit Taiwan to make repairs.

During negotiations between the U.S. and Taiwan, Taiwan can also require the U.S. to provide the arms it owes Taiwan as soon as possible. According to the think tank Cato Institute, the U.S. owes Taiwan $20.5 billion in arms! With these kinds of actions, the U.S. can hardly be said to value Taiwan. Taiwan should use diplomatic protest to strengthen national defense. With a variety of diplomatic measures, negotiations and communications, and with a wealth of talent, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not afraid of having no plan of action.