US angers China with potential $1.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan

The US State Department has accredited a possible $1.1 billion sale of army gear to Taiwan, together with 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles, with China threatening to take counter measures.

The Pentagon introduced the package deal on Friday within the wake of China’s aggressive army drills round Taiwan following a go to to the island final month by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking US official to journey to Taipei in years.

The sale contains Sidewinder missiles, which can be utilized for air-to-air and surface-attack missions, at a price of some $85.6 million, Harpoon anti-ship missiles at an estimated $355 million value and help for Taiwan’s surveillance radar program for an estimated $665.4 million, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) stated.

Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, stated the potential arms sale “severely jeopardizes” US-China relations, based on AFP and BBC.

“China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation,” he stated, based on the experiences.

President Joe Biden’s administration stated the package deal has been into account for a while and was developed in session with Taiwan and US lawmakers.

“As the PRC 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,” Laura Rosenberger, White House senior director for China and Taiwan, stated in an announcement.

Reuters reported final month that the Biden administration was planning new gear for Taiwan however that the gear would maintain Taiwan’s present army methods and fulfill present orders, not supply new capabilities, regardless of the heightened tensions that adopted Pelosi’s go to.

The Pentagon stated the gear and help introduced on Friday wouldn’t alter the fundamental army stability within the area. US officers stated they didn’t mirror any change in coverage towards Taiwan.

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“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 US Department of State spokesperson stated, requesting anonymity.

Taiwan’s protection ministry expressed its thanks, including that China’s latest “provocative” actions represented a critical menace and the arms sale would assist it face China’s army strain.

“At the same time, it also demonstrates that it will help our country strengthen its overall defense capabilities and jointly maintain the security and peace of the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region,” the ministry stated in an announcement.

Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, stated his group opposed what he termed a “limited approach” to arms gross sales to Taiwan.

“As the (China’s) People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently demonstrated in its mock blockade, the island 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,” Hammond-Chambers stated in an announcement.

The order displays continued US help for Taiwan as Taipei faces strain from China, which claims Taiwan as its personal territory and has by no means dominated out utilizing pressure to convey the democratically dominated island underneath its management.

The gross sales should be reviewed by Congress, however each Democratic and Republican congressional aides stated they don’t anticipate opposition. There have been at the least two different visits to Taiwan by members of Congress from each events since Pelosi’s go to, in addition to by governors of US states, all condemned by Beijing.

The principal contractor for the Harpoon missiles is Boeing Co. Raytheon is the principal contractor for each the Sidewinders and the radar program.

Taipei says that because the People’s Republic of China has by no means dominated the island, it has no proper to assert it.

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