TAIPEI, March 25 (Reuters) - The United States has

"quite a high" sense of urgency in helping Taiwan strengthen its

military capabilities and is working to help speed up delayed

weapons deliveries, the island's Defence Minister Wellington Koo

said on Wednesday.

Taiwan, which faces a rising military threat from China, has

complained of repeated delays to weapons ordered from the United

States, the most important international backer and arms

supplier to the island, which Beijing claims as its territory.

One of the main delays is to a 2019 order for 66 Lockheed

Martin F-16V fighters, equipped with more advanced

avionics, weapons and radar systems to better face down the

Chinese air force, including its stealthy J-20 fighters.

Deliveries of many of the weapons systems ordered have

already begun or arrived, Koo told reporters at parliament.

"As for the portions that have experienced delays, the

United States has already set up a special project team to

accelerate the relevant weapons programmes and help us catch up

to schedule as quickly as possible," he said.

"I have also repeatedly explained that the U.S. sense of

urgency in helping us strengthen our self-defence capabilities

as quickly as possible is in fact quite high."

Deliveries of F-16V fighter jets for Taiwan will begin this

year with production at "full capacity", the ministry said at

the weekend.

Last week, Michael Miller, director of the U.S. Defense

Security Cooperation Agency, said he signed a directive in 2023

to prioritise Taiwan above other buyers, adding that security

cooperation and assistance for Taiwan was a top priority.

The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the

means to defend itself, and arms sales are a constant source of

friction between Washington and Beijing, which has demanded that

they stop.