Koo says US arms sales to Taiwan stay on track after Democrats win Congress

Defence Minister Wellington Koo told reporters in Taipei on 5 November 2026 that United States congressional support for Taiwan defence remains bipartisan after Democrats won majorities in both chambers of Congress in the 3 November midterm elections, Central News Agency and Focus Taiwan reported.

Koo said the Ministry of National Defense would keep talking with members of Congress and stay in close contact with the US defence establishment so that arms sales to Taiwan stay on schedule. He spoke before a Legislative Yuan session that included review work on the central government supplementary budget for fiscal 2026.

Focus Taiwan and Taiwan News both recorded the same core assurance: long-running bipartisan backing in Congress for Taiwan self-defence, paired with a pledge to keep Foreign Military Sales timing on track despite the partisan change in Washington. Newly elected US lawmakers are due to be sworn in on 3 January 2027.

Military News Agency coverage of the same doorstep remarks emphasised continued engagement with US legislators and the US Department of War as the ministry works through live Foreign Military Sales cases. The comments came two days after the midterm vote that flipped control of the Senate and House for the remainder of President Donald Trump's term.

The timing matters for Taiwan procurement managers watching Letters of Offer and Acceptance and delivery calendars that already include delayed fighters, air-defence systems, and munitions. Koo did not announce a new package; he framed the political change in Washington as something Taipei would manage through existing bipartisan channels rather than a break in support.

Independent English and Chinese wire accounts of the 5 November exchange agree on the sequence: a reporter asked about the Republican losses, Koo answered with the bipartisan-support line, and the ministry restated its intent to keep sales moving. No new LOA, contract signature, or delivery date was attached to the remarks themselves.

That distinction separates the midterm assurance from parallel Taiwan debates still awaiting hard paperwork, including Stinger LOA timing and other US-origin systems that lawmakers have left partly frozen while they press the ministry for signed documents. Koo's message was about continuity of congressional attitude and ministry outreach, not about clearing any single blocked case on the spot.

Taiwan News additionally noted that Koo linked the outreach plan to both Capitol Hill and the US defence bureaucracy, a dual track that Taiwan uses when sales move from notification to contracting and delivery. Focus Taiwan placed the same remarks in the context of the Democratic takeover of Congress and the scheduled January 2027 seating of new members.

For a news desk tracking FMS calendars, the actionable fact is narrower: on 5 November the defence minister publicly treated the midterm result as a reason to intensify, not suspend, engagement with US legislators and defence officials so that already-agreed or pending sales keep their schedules. The four outlets cited here all report that framing without adding a newly disclosed sale value or hull or aircraft delivery date.