Taiwan, US mum on reported arms production planStaff writer, with CNATaiwan and the US have remained tight-lipped about a reported plan to jointly produce weapons that would increase the production of US-designed arms and accelerate their transfer to Taipei. The non-profit US-Taiwan Business Council on Wednesday told Reuters that the idea was in the early planning stages. Initial discussions on the matter focused on whether to allow US defense companies to provide weapons technology to manufacturers in Taiwan, or to produce the arms in the US using Taiwan-made parts, Nikkei Asia said. In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Ministry of National Defense yesterday declined to comment on the news reports. MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said that the US government, across party lines, maintains close cooperation with Taiwan to bolster Taiwan’s self-defense and asymmetrical warfare capabilities through arms sales.
