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according to taiwan's china times on the 16th, the u.s. department of defense inspector general recently released an investigation report stating that the pda military aid materials received by taiwan from the united states in december last year were "unusable" because more than 3,000 bulletproof plates and 500 tactical vests were moldy, and some of the ammunition was expired and improperly packaged. the head of the security cooperation group of the american institute in taiwan bluntly stated that those ammunition boxes looked like the u.s. military was emptying out things they didn't want.

the military equipment provided by the united states to taiwan can be seen to be damp and moldy. source: taiwanese media

the china times said:towerthe military completely blocked the news of this matter, kept its mouth shut, and did not dare to use the military aid.some people in the military privately complained that the tactical vests provided by the us were of us military size, which did not fit the body shape of oriental people, and some of them were damp, and the bulletproof steel sheets were very heavy, so they were not fully distributed to the troops. the report said, "if it were not for the public investigation report of the us pentagon inspectorate, no one would know about it. the taiwan side, considering the relationship between taiwan and the united states, swallowed it by itself."

according to taiwanese media, the reason why the us agreed to provide military aid of us$345 million to taiwan was to compensate for the delay of several major arms sales and to give the inventory equipment as an "apology". taiwan's united daily news reported on the 17th that taiwan had purchased 66 f-16vs from the us and had paid nearly half of the payment, but the delivery of the aircraft had been repeatedly delayed. it was originally scheduled to deliver two aircraft at the end of this month, but the taiwan military has now confirmed that it was stood up again. taiwanese media bluntly stated that there is no penalty for late delivery of arms sales, and taiwan can only ask the us to give priority to the parts needed for the current fighter jets in service in the taiwan military. the money for the fighter jets still has to be paid, and the money for the parts has to be paid. "the so-called 'wool comes from the sheep', if you don't pay, you can only get damp and moldy inventory that the us military doesn't want."

xiao hongrong, a scholar at tamkang university in taiwan, wrote on the 17th that the taiwan military also faces multiple challenges in dealing with these military equipment. first of all, the handling of these military supplies involves military secrets, and specific procedures must be strictly followed and carried out by personnel with relevant professional capabilities. secondly, there are many risks in terms of safety. for example, ammunition contains hazardous substances, which will cause harm to the environment and human health if accidentally leaked. it is not only very cumbersome to handle, but also very costly. he yicheng, chairman of the taiwan youth federation, wrote that judging from the united states' contemptuous attitude towards taiwan, the united states does not attach as much importance to the security of the taiwan strait as it says, and only wants to play the "taiwan card" to contain the mainland. the dpp authorities dare not speak out and swallow their bitterness. the united states has always regarded the taiwan authorities as an atm. the biden administration has sold arms to taiwan more than a dozen times, and hundreds of billions of dollars have made arms dealers make a lot of money. "now taiwan is even more regarded as a trash can."

united news network said on the 16th that in the past few years, the dpp authorities have used the united states to support taiwan and "resist china" to gain political dividends, but the united states delayed the delivery of arms sales, did not fulfill its obligations after receiving the money, and sent garbage when urging for delivery, making the taiwan authorities spend more money to clear the waste. "may i ask how determined the united states is to support taiwan?" the article mentioned that the democratic progressive party's flank defended the united states, claiming that the pentagon's public investigation report showed its willingness to take responsibility. but in fact, the relevant us units dragged on for several months and did not come up with improvement suggestions. if taiwan's "minister of defense" gu lixiong cannot give the public a reasonable explanation, the democratic progressive party will no longer have to say that "taiwan-us relations are as solid as a rock."(cheng dong)

global times