The US Department of State has approved a US$1.1 billion sale of military equipment to Taiwan, including 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles, prompting China to threaten countermeasures.
The US Department of Defense announced the package on Friday in the wake of China’s aggressive military drills around Taiwan following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last month.
The planned sale includes Sidewinder missiles, which can be used for air-to-air and surface-attack missions, for a total of US$85.6 million, Harpoon anti-ship missiles for US$355 million and support for Taiwan’s surveillance radar program for US$665.4 million, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
Photo: CNA
US President Joe Biden’s administration said the package has been under consideration for some time and was developed in consultation with Taiwan and US lawmakers.
“As the PRC [People’s Republic of China] continues to increase pressure on Taiwan — including through heightened military air and maritime presence around Taiwan — and engages in attempts to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, we’re providing Taiwan with what it needs to maintain its self-defense capabilities,” US National Security Council China and Taiwan Senior Director Laura Rosenberger said in a statement.
Reuters last month reported that the Biden administration was planning new equipment sales to Taiwan, but that it would sustain Taiwan’s current military systems and fulfill existing orders, not offer new capabilities, despite the heightened tensions following Pelosi’s visit.
The Pentagon said the equipment and support would not alter the basic military balance in the Indo-Pacific region.
US officials said the sale does not reflect any change in Taiwan policy.
“These proposed sales are routine cases to support Taiwan’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability,” a state department spokesperson said, requesting anonymity.
In Taipei, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) yesterday thanked the US government for approving arms deals for the fifth time this year.
The planned arms packages are a demonstration of Washington’s emphasis of Taiwan’s national defense needs and commitment to the nation’s security, he said.
Taiwan does not seek conflict, but it will demonstrate a firm resolve to defend itself and safeguard its sovereignty, Chang said.
The government plans to continue working with like-minded partners to contribute to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, he added.
The Ministry of National Defense said in a statement that the proposed US arms sales would help the military tackle increasingly “severe threats” posed by China’s “gray-zone” pressure campaign in the seas and airspace near Taiwan by elevating the effectiveness of the nation’s long-range missile warning systems.
US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said his organization opposes what he called a “limited approach” to arms sales to Taiwan.
“As the [Chinese] People’s Liberation Army [PLA] recently demonstrated in its mock blockade, the island [Taiwan] faces a range of threats that require a range of capabilities. To deny the island the ability to mount a full defense will, over time, create new gaps in Taiwan’s defenses that the PLA can exploit,” he said in a statement.
The sales must be reviewed by the US Congress, but Democratic and Republican congressional aides said they do not expect opposition.
Meanwhile, Liu Pengyu (劉鵬宇), a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in a statement that the possible arms sale “severely jeopardizes China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
“China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary countermeasures in light of the development of the situation,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
UNITED: The premier said Trump’s tariff comments provided a great opportunity for the private and public sectors to come together to maintain the nation’s chip advantage The government is considering ways to assist the nation’s semiconductor industry or hosting collaborative projects with the private sector after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips exported to the US, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Trump on Monday told Republican members of the US Congress about plans to impose sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, steel, aluminum, copper and pharmaceuticals “in the very near future.” “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said at the Republican Issues Conference in Miami, Florida. “They
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Taiwan must capitalize on the shock waves DeepSeek has sent through US markets to show it is a tech partner of Washington, a researcher said China’s reported breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) would prompt the US to seek a stronger alliance with Taiwan and Japan to secure its technological superiority, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. The launch of low-cost AI model DeepSeek (深度求索) on Monday sent US tech stocks tumbling, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp losing 16 percent of its value and the NASDAQ falling 612.46 points, or 3.07 percent, to close at 19,341.84 points. On the same day, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Sector index dropped 488.7 points, or 9.15 percent, to close at 4,853.24 points. The launch of the Chinese chatbot proves that a competitor can
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
MARITIME SECURITY: Of the 52 vessels, 15 were rated a ‘threat’ for various reasons, including the amount of time they spent loitering near subsea cables, the CGA said Taiwan has identified 52 “suspicious” Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience that require close monitoring if detected near the nation, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday, as the nation seeks to protect its subsea telecoms cables. The stricter regime comes after a Cameroon-flagged vessel was briefly detained by the CGA earlier this month on suspicion of damaging an international cable northeast of Taiwan. The vessel is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company with a Chinese address given for its only listed director, the CGA said previously. Taiwan fears China could sever its communication links as part of an attempt
RSS