In light of the rising tensions with Beijing, which has threatened Washington with “counter-measures,” the United States on Friday announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan. Washington pledged to continue bolstering the island’s defenses.
The transaction takes place a month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a confrontational visit to the self-governing democracy, which prompted mainland China to undertake a military display that might have been a practice invasion.
The package, which is the largest for Taiwan to be approved by President Joe Biden’s administration, includes $665 million for contractor support to update and maintain a Raytheon early radar warning system that has been in place since 2013 and alerts Taiwan to impending attacks.
Taiwan will also invest $355 million on 60 Harpoon Block II missiles, which, should China launch a maritime assault, can track and sink incoming boats.
More than 100 Sidewinder missiles, a staple of Western militaries for their air-to-air lethality, are also included in the sale for $85.6 million.
In a statement, Chang Tun-han, a spokesman for the Taiwanese Presidential Office, commended the United States for continuing to assist the security and defense of the island.
In addition to assisting our soldiers in their fight against coercion in grey zones, this arms sale will improve the island’s early warning systems for long-range ballistic missiles, the official said.
The sale’s announcement comes one day after Taiwanese forces shot down an unidentified commercial drone amid a sudden flurry of enigmatic incursions that have alarmed the island in the wake of Beijing’s earlier display of force, which it claimed it carried out by firing ballistic missiles over Taipei, the capital.
China demanded that the United States “immediately cancel” the arms shipments, describing Taiwan as a “inalienable” portion of its territory.
Liu Pengyu, a spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, stated that it “sends the incorrect signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and seriously jeopardizes China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
He continued, “China will steadfastly adopt legal and essential countermeasures in light of the development of the situation.”
For Taiwan, it is “essential”
The package, according to a State Department spokesman who approved the sale, is “vital for Taiwan’s security.” The spokesperson also emphasized that the US still only recognizes Beijing and not Taipei.
In a statement, the spokesman urged Beijing to engage in real discussion with Taiwan instead of continuing its pressure against the island nation through military, diplomatic, and economic means.
The sales “are routine cases to support Taiwan’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability,” the spokesperson said on condition of anonymity in line with protocol.
“The United States will continue to support a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues, consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people on Taiwan.”
The sale needs the approval of the US Congress, which is virtually assured as Taiwan enjoys strong support across party lines.
Ahead of the visit by Pelosi, who is second in line to the White House, Biden officials quietly made the case to China that she did not represent the administration’s policy, as Congress is a separate and equal branch of government.
The weapons approval, by contrast, clearly comes from the Biden administration, although it is consistent with sales since 1979 when the United States switched recognition to Beijing but agreed to maintain Taiwan’s capacity for self-defense.
Biden, on a trip to Tokyo in May, appeared to break with decades of US policy by saying the United States would defend Taiwan directly if it was attacked although his aides later walked back his remarks, insisting that US policy remained deliberately ambiguous.
In a July appearance, CIA chief Bill Burns said that Chinese President Xi Jinping was still determined to assert control over Taiwan but that Russia’s woes in Ukraine may have prompted Beijing to wait and make sure it would have an overwhelming military advantage.
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