TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — U.S. Senator Josh Hawley on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden to prioritize arming Taiwan over Ukraine, amid reports a burgeoning backlog of weapons shipments to Taiwan has built up as the U.S. hurriedly ferries arms to Ukraine.

In the letter, sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Hawley expressed concern that arms shipments to Ukraine are hampering efforts to provide Taiwan with the weaponry necessary to deter Beijing. In the second paragraph, Hawley was quick to stress that "Taiwan is more important for U.S. national interests than Ukraine."

The senator warned that Taiwan is in China's sights as its next goal toward achieving hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region and that it would have "dire ramifications" for U.S. national security. He called on the Biden administration to speed up the transfer of arms to Taiwan on the condition that the country commits to "an asymmetric defense, significantly increases its own defense spending, and pursues necessary defense reforms."

He criticized the White House for placing the priority on supplying weapons to Ukraine to the detriment of U.S. security interests in Asia. The senator pointed out that Blinken had recently warned that China is pursuing annexation of Taiwan on a "much faster timeline" and cited a warning by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Phil Davidson that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) may attack Taiwan as soon as 2027.

Hawley noted that the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission reported that the "diversion of existing stocks of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine" along with pandemic-induced supply chain problems has led to a "sizeable backlog" in the delivery of arms approved for Taiwan. He quoted a Wall Street Journal report as stating that the backlog in weapons shipments to Taiwan "has grown to US$18.7 billion," including weapons vital to asymmetric warfare, such as Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

The lawmaker warned that the U.S. does not have the "luxury of waiting for China to invade Taiwan" before it sends weapons to the country. Hawley argued that once the invasion begins, the delivery of weapons will be substantially more difficult as a full blockade is highly likely and that sending weapons now would prevent such a scenario through deterrence.

However, Hawley emphasized that arms aid to Taiwan should come with conditions, such as a focus on asymmetrical warfare and increased defense spending. He asserted that fighter jets and tanks would serve as less of a deterrent than Javelins, Stingers, and HIMARS rocket launchers.

He then closed the letter with six questions for the White House, such as whether Taiwan and Ukraine could benefit from the same weapons systems and why asymmetric weapons systems may have been prioritized for Ukraine over Taiwan. The senator questioned why the arming of Ukraine appears to have been placed over Taiwan and whether the diversion of arms to Ukraine has weakened Taiwan's deterrence against China.

Hawley called on the Biden administration to prioritize the arming of Taiwan over Ukraine and asked how this can be quickly implemented. Lastly, he asked how German and other NATO allies can take up more of the burden of arming Ukraine to enable the U.S. to focus on bolstering Taiwan's defenses.