The US plans to sell as many as seven major weapons systems — including mines, cruise missiles and drones — to Taiwan, four people familiar with the discussions said.
Pursuing seven sales at once is a rare departure from years of precedent in which US military sales to Taiwan were spaced out and carefully calibrated to minimize tensions with Beijing.
However, US President Donald Trump’s administration has this year become more aggressive with China, and the sales would land as relations between Beijing and Washington are at their lowest point in decades over accusations of spying, lingering trade tensions, disputes about the COVID-19 pandemic, alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong’s new National Security Law.
Photo: Bloomberg
At the same time, Taiwan’s desire to buy weapons increased after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was re-elected in January and she made bolstering the nation’s defenses a top priority.
Washington has been eager to create a military counterbalance to Chinese forces, building on an effort known within the Pentagon as “Fortress Taiwan,” as Beijing’s military makes increasingly aggressive moves in the region.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
The weapons packages from Lockheed Martin Co, Boeing Co and General Atomics are moving their way through the export process, three people on Capitol Hill familiar with the status of the deals said, and a notification to the US Congress is expected within weeks.
One industry source said that Trump is scheduled to be briefed on the arms packages this week by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Some of the deals had been requested by Taiwan more than a year ago, but are only now being moved through the approval process.
A US Department of State spokesman declined to comment.
A senior US official, citing Chinese assertiveness in the Taiwan Strait, said: “There is no equilibrium today. It is out of balance and I think that is dangerous.”
Trump’s White House has made an effort to export weapons to US allies as it tries to bolster their defenses, decrease dependence on US troops, and boost US companies and jobs.
As he campaigns for re-election on Nov. 3, Trump and Republican supporters have ramped up their rhetoric against Beijing and sought to portray former US vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, as soft on China.
Other factors include Taiwan’s bigger defense budget and the fear in Taiwan that if Trump loses, Biden would be less willing to sell the US’ most advanced weapons to the nation.
Taiwan is bolstering its defenses in the face of what it sees as increasingly threatening moves by Beijing, such as regular Chinese air and naval exercises near the nation.
The senior US official said that Taiwan’s increased defense spending is a good step, but that it needs to do more.
“Taiwan, frankly, needs to do more in order to ensure that they indigenously have an ability to deter Chinese aggression,” the US official said.
Late last night, the Ministry of National Defense issued a statement calling the Reuters report nothing more than "media speculation,” saying that the military does not discuss such deals publicly, and that it would report to the public whenever the State Department formally notifies the US Congress of any such deals.
Additional reporting by CNA
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
STANDING TOGETHER: Amid China’s increasingly aggressive activities, nations must join forces in detecting and dealing with incursions, a Taiwanese official said Two senior Philippine officials and one former official yesterday attended the Taiwan International Ocean Forum in Taipei, the first high-level visit since the Philippines in April lifted a ban on such travel to Taiwan. The Ocean Affairs Council hosted the two-day event at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center. Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Coast Guard spokesman Grand Commodore Jay Tarriela and former Philippine Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Michel del Rosario participated in the forum. More than 100 officials, experts and entrepreneurs from 15 nations participated in the forum, which included discussions on countering China’s hybrid warfare
MORE DEMOCRACY: The only solution to Taiwan’s current democratic issues involves more democracy, including Constitutional Court rulings and citizens exercising their civil rights , Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is not the “motherland” of the Republic of China (ROC) and has never owned Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. The speech was the third in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to deliver across Taiwan. Taiwan is facing external threats from China, Lai said at a Lions Clubs International banquet in Hsinchu. For example, on June 21 the army detected 12 Chinese aircraft, eight of which entered Taiwanese waters, as well as six Chinese warships that remained in the waters around Taiwan, he said. Beyond military and political intimidation, Taiwan