US senator sees feasibility of joint arms production with Taiwan

Yian Lee, Bloomberg News on Aug 30, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

The U.S. and Taiwan could feasibly manufacture weapons jointly, according to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, in remarks that risk angering and escalating tensions with China.

“We are open to suggestion and innovation in that regard,” Wicker said at a briefing in Taipei on Saturday. “And that will depend on the skills present both on this side of the Pacific Ocean and ours.”

The senator from Mississippi arrived in Taiwan on Friday as part of an Indo-Pacific trip with Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, which included stops in Hawaii, Guam, Palau and the Philippines. The Republican senators also met with Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Koo on Saturday.

Their visit drew criticism from Beijing, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun saying it undermined China’s sovereignty, and that the U.S. should stop official interactions with Taiwan.

Taipei has been trying to ramp up defense spending to deter an increasingly aggressive China, which sees the island as part of its territory that needs to be taken back, with force if necessary. The average number of daily incursions by People’s Liberation Army fighter jets crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait, a de facto border between the two sides, has more doubled since President Lai Ching-te took office in May last year.

Taiwan recently proposed a military spending of NT$949.5 billion ($31.1 billion) for 2026, a 23% increase compared to last year. Lai has also vowed to increase the military spending to 5% of GDP.

On Saturday, Koo said the senators’ visit “highlights the U.S. Congress’s commitment to Taiwan’s security, affirming that Taiwan and the U.S. will stand shoulder to shoulder in safeguarding democracy and freedom.”

The U.S. is expected to station an official from its Defense Innovation Unit, a department helping the Pentagon adopt new technology, in Taiwan by the end of this year, the Financial Times had reported.

Wicker said efforts by the Trump administration to resolve trade tensions with Beijing won’t affect its ties with Taiwan.

The U.S. enjoys selling goods around the world, and that “in no way affects the defense alliance and friendship and determination” that it has with Taiwan and its people, Wicker said.

The senators’ visit comes as China prepares to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War with a parade next week that will be attended by leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

(Tian Ying contributed to this report.)