The US Department of State on Wednesday approved US$1.8 billion in new arms for Taiwan and submitted the package to the US Congress for a final review in a move aimed at improving Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities against a long-threatened invasion by China.
The package has 135 extended-range standoff land-attack missiles from Boeing Co valued at US$1 billion, US$436 million of high-mobility artillery rocket systems made by Lockheed Martin Corp and US$367 million in surveillance and reconnaissance sensors from Raytheon Technologies Corp to be mounted on aircraft.
The submission to Congress for a 30-day review, which is unlikely to draw opposition, comes two months after the US and Taiwan completed the sale of 66 new model F-16 Block 70 aircraft from Lockheed.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the sale as “severe interference in China’s internal affairs” that would “undermine China’s sovereignty and security interests,” and vowed retaliation, including sanctions against the US companies involved.
In Taipei, the Presidential Office thanked the US for the sale.
“By providing us with these defensive weapons, the US is not only helping Taiwan strengthen and modernize our national defense capabilities, it is also increasing our asymmetric capabilities, making Taiwan more capable and confident of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region,” Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said in a statement.
This is the eighth arms sale package announced by US President Donald Trump’s administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release yesterday, thanking Washington for backing its commitment to the US’ Taiwan Relations Act and former US president Ronald Reagan’s “six assurances” with concrete action.
“Taiwan will continue to deepen its security partnership with the US and help maintain the Indo-Pacific region’s peace, stability and prosperity,” the ministry said.
The Executive Yuan said in a statement that deepening economic cooperation between the US and Taiwan, as well as promoting supply chain restructuring, are among the government’s most important tasks.
Chinese warplanes have stepped up incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
The land-attack missiles in particular “will improve the recipient’s capability to meet current and future threats as it provides all-weather, day and night, precision attack capabilities against both moving and stationary targets,” the state department said.
The US has pushed back against Chinese pressure and two senior US officials, including US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach, have visited Taiwan since August in a show of support.
“The US government has long shrunk from selling Taiwan weapons that could strike PRC [People’s Republic of China] territory from Taiwan proper,” said Ian Easton, senior director at the Arlington, Virginia-based Project 2049 Institute. “These new missiles will hold major PLA [People’s Liberation Army] amphibious assault bases at risk and significantly complicate their offensive plans.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an Oct. 9 interview on the Hugh Hewitt show that the “administration has been relentless in the work that we have done to make sure that the understandings that we’ve had between ourselves and China as they relate to Taiwan are delivered upon.”
“We are going to make sure that we live up to all of the obligations we have to Taiwan,” Pompeo added.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
CORRUPTION: Twelve other people were convicted on charges related to giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one to five years The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption, sentencing her to 12 years and six months in prison. The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022 indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner. Lin was accused of giving illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to conduct activities linked to the 2020 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential and legislative election campaigns. Those favors included exempting some property and construction firms from land taxes and building code contraventions that would have required
TECH CORRIDOR: Technology centers and science parks in the south would be linked, bolstering the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a “Southern Silicon Valley” project to promote the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industry in Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung County and Kaohsiung. The plan would build an integrated “S-shaped semiconductor industry corridor” that links technology centers and science parks in the south, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday after a Cabinet meeting. The project would bolster the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries, she said. The proposed tech corridor would be supported by government efforts to furnish computing power, workforce, supply chains and policy measures that encourage application and integration
RSS