Taiwan Puts American-Made Abrams Tanks Into Service, Vows to Defend Sovereignty
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Taiwan has formally inducted its first U.S.-made M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks into service, with President Lai Ching-te hailing the deployment as a major milestone in the island’s military modernization and a symbol of its determination to defend its sovereignty against growing pressure from communist China.
“We have new equipment and technology, but we also need new training and thinking, and the spirit of asymmetric warfare, to effectively enhance our combat capabilities,” Lai said during the ceremony, according to a translation of his speech.
Taiwan purchased 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks under a contract approved during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, as part of a broader effort to bolster the island’s defense capabilities.
Lai said during Friday’s ceremony that Taiwan’s military buildup is aimed at preserving peace and stability, not provoking conflict. He reaffirmed his government’s position against Chinese annexation or political control, which comes as Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials have vowed to “reunify” Taiwan with the mainland, by force if necessary.
“We strengthen national defense to protect our homeland and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Lai said. “Only strength can bring true peace; signing a peace agreement cannot bring peace, and accepting the demands of aggressors and relinquishing sovereignty will certainly not achieve peace.”
The Abrams tanks are a key part of Taiwan’s five-layer coastal defense strategy, which combines long-range anti-ship missiles, artillery and rocket systems, attack helicopters, inland missile batteries, and armored counterattack units. Together, these elements are meant to create overlapping fields of fire and slow any potential amphibious assault across the Taiwan Strait.
“The threats we face are real and they are urgent,“ Hegseth said. ”China’s unprecedented military buildup and its aggressive military actions in the region speak for themselves.”
Hegseth said that Japan’s commitment to increase defense spending was a welcome development and “an important step forward.”
“Make no mistake about it, our alliance is critical to deterring Chinese military aggression,“ he said. ”To respond to regional contingencies and keeping our country safe, shoulder to shoulder with Japan, we look forward to continuing to strengthen our alliance.”
Hegseth’s remarks came a day after Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi toured the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Yokosuka and signed what both leaders described as a “new golden age” for the U.S.–Japan alliance.
Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister and a conservative with a hawkish stance toward Beijing, said that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are “of the utmost importance” to Japan and the international community.
The warning echoed recent Pentagon assessments highlighting the scale of the Chinese regime’s military expansion. The U.S. Department of War estimates that China now possesses more than 370 naval combat vessels—a number expected to exceed 435 by 2030—and roughly 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Robert Peters, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Epoch Times that China’s massive navy, growing missile stockpile, and expanding nuclear force present “a significant threat to the United States.”
