The US Congress is working on a series of bills that should speed up the supply of weapons to American allies, in particular, Taiwan. Gregory Meeks, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, said this to Defense News..

Nearly a dozen Dongfeng ballistic missiles flew over Taiwan earlier this month as China held a massive military exercise in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island..

During this exercise, Chinese naval forces took up positions on the eastern side of Taiwan for the first time, completely encircling the island.. China's message was clear: Beijing could easily blockade the island, causing havoc in global supply chains and preventing the United States and allies from supplying weapons to the Taiwanese military..

The incident prompted US lawmakers to point out the need to export as many weapons to Taiwan as possible to deter China from blockading or directly invading the island..

While the US views these arms sales as integral to deterring China from attacking Taiwan, some of the so far unrealized agreements were publicly announced as early as 2017.. Taiwan faces a $14 billion backlog in US military equipment purchases.

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“There must be a constant link between the US arms sales policy to Taiwan and the degree to which the threat from Beijing is either increasing or decreasing,” she added, noting that the weapons give the island “the ability to defend itself in the event of a full-scale invasion, cyberattack or other.

Congress is trying to solve the problem of arms shipments to Taiwan, as well as other possible delays in arms sales to Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks told Defense News that congressmen are "

Meanwhile, the backlog in arms deliveries illustrates how the cumbersome, slow process of arms sales to allies is undermining US efforts to contain China in the Pacific..

The reasons, including government delays, supply chain issues and production requirements, are many, so the problem will not be easy to fix, Congressional Representative Mike McCall said..

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Earlier it was reported that the United States is preparing a formal request to Congress with a request to allow the sale of weapons to Taiwan..

This is a $1.1 billion military package that will include 60 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles for $355 million, 100 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder tactical missiles for $85.6 million, and $655.4 million. Also, American F-16 fighters for Taipei will be equipped with Sidewinder missiles.. However, the package is in preparation and may still change..