The first deliveries of US HIMARS missile systems to Taiwan could be made before the end of the year.
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The twenty-nine M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) kits that the military purchased from the US in 2020 and 2022 are expected to be delivered in separate batches between the end of this year and 2026.
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As noted, the island purchased two batches of HIMARS from the United States. The first batch of 11 units should be delivered between the end of this year and 2025, with the remaining 18 units to be delivered before the end of 2026.
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The second batch will also include 84 MGM-140 ATACMS missiles.
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Earlier, the head of the island’s administration, Lai Qingde, said that Taiwan would continue to independently strengthen its defense capabilities, as well as purchase weapons from foreign countries.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian stated that the purchase of weapons by the Taiwanese administration will not stop the historical trend of the inevitable reunification of China.
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Beijing considers Taiwan an integral part of the PRC, and adherence to the “one China” principle is a prerequisite for other states wishing to establish or maintain diplomatic relations with the PRC. The “one China” principle and non-recognition of Taiwan’s independence are also observed by the United States, despite the fact that they maintain close contacts with Taipei in various fields and supply the island with weapons.
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The situation around Taiwan worsened significantly after Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited the island in early August 2022. China, which considers the island one of its provinces, condemned Pelosi’s visit as US support for Taiwanese separatism and held large-scale military exercises.
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Official relations between the central government of the PRC and its island province were interrupted in 1949 after the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek, defeated in the civil war with the Communist Party of China, moved to Taiwan. Business and informal contacts between the island and mainland China resumed in the late 1980s. Since the early 1990s, the parties began to contact through non-governmental organizations – the Beijing Association for the Development of Relations across the Taiwan Strait and the Taipei Cross-Strait Exchange Foundation.
