Retired admiral calls on U.S. to fast-track Taiwan weapons sale notifications after Trump-Xi summit

In Taipei, retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery urged the United States to move quickly on notifying Congress about planned arms sales to Taiwan, arguing that the recent Trump-Xi summit should not create additional holdups. He noted that the summit had already delayed the announcement of proposed sales and that the White House had not confirmed whether Taiwan was discussed. Montgomery distinguished the notification step from the physical delivery of weapons, pointing out that certain items are not needed by U.S. forces.

He proposed breaking a US$14 billion sale into several smaller announcements to speed up approval. While acknowledging Chinese President Xi's remarks on Taiwan, Montgomery said the U.S. response and subsequent actions are what truly matter. He also called for increased joint training and exercises to improve interoperability between the two militaries.