Pernicious collusion seeks to erase Beijing's redline on Taiwan question

The so-called Taiwan-US Defense Industry Forum, being held on Thursday, is positioned as being unofficial. Ostensibly, it is organized by the Taipei-based "Taiwan Defense Industry Development Association" and the so-called US-Taiwan Business Council. While the members of the US delegation participating in the forum are supposedly all representatives of 27 US defense contractors, accompanied by a retired US Marine Corps officer. But even taking that at face value, the intent and security consequences are such that it cannot be viewed as business as usual for the US arms merchants.

It might be tempting to those unwilling to face squarely the intent to view the forum as merely a continuation of what was already in place under the preceding Tsai Ing-wen authorities of the same ruling Democratic Progressive Party on the Chinese island — an impression reinforced by the participating US defense contractors being basically the same group that had presented themselves at last year's event, along with Steven Rudder, the commanding general of the US Marine Corps Pacific until September 2022.

But that would be to ignore the changed context in which the event is taking place. As some have pointed out, it is the first come-and-sell by the major US arms suppliers, including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, since Taiwan inaugurated another DPP leader, who is a "more dangerous" radical separatist than his predecessor.