The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$2.22 billion in weapons to Taiwan that includes M1A2T Abrams tanks and Stinger missiles.
The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs announced the sales and the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency formally informed the US Congress of the approval on Monday.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) thanked the US government in a Facebook post, saying the weaponry would strengthen Taiwan’s national defense capacity and deter potential military threats, as well as ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait and the wider region.
Photo: Lin Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
The US government has used the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) to take concrete actions that realize its commitment to Taiwan’s security, Tsai wrote.
Earlier in the day, the Presidential Office issued a statement expressing “sincere gratitude” for the sale, with Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) saying that the government would “speed up investment on defense and continue to deepen security ties with the United States and countries with similar ideas.”
In two statements issued on Monday, the agency said that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office has requested to buy 250 Stinger missiles, four Stinger fly-to-buy missiles, 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks and related equipment.
The principal missile contractor would be Raytheon Missile Systems Co, and the M1A2T prime contractor would be General Dynamics Land Systems, the statements said.
The Stinger missiles and related equipment would contribute to the Taiwanese military’s goal of updating its defensive capability, while further enhancing greater interoperability with the US and other partners, the agency said.
The proposed sale of the tanks “will contribute to the modernization of the recipient’s main battle tank fleet, enhancing its ability to meet current and future regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense,” the agency said.
The sale of the tanks serves the US’ national, economic and security interests by helping “improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region,” it added.
However, the deal does not include the 66 F-16V jets that the Ministry of National Defense requested in February.
The arms package had been stalled for some time amid concerns that the US government was holding back on weapon sales to Taiwan for fear of their possible effects on its trade talks with China.
The truce in the trade dispute reached between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, and an agreement to keep talking might have allayed some of those worries.
The sales, announced as two separate packages by the agency, are the most substantive since Trump took office.
The deal shows that the US is normalizing its arms sales to Taiwan based on the TRA and the “six assurances,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The arms sale is highly significant and beneficial for Taiwan to boost its self-defense capability, as the nation is on the front line of Beijing’s aggressive expansionism, the ministry said.
The deal would not affect cross-strait relations; instead, cross-strait peace and stability can be maintained only when Taiwan enhances its defense to deter potentially military aggression, it added.
China’s reaction to the US announcement was predictable.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday demanded that the US “immediately cancel” the sale, and “stop military relations with Taipei to avoid damaging Sino-US relations and harming peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) said at a regular news briefing in Beijing.
China has lodged formal complaints through diplomatic channels, he added.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan, Reuters and AFP
ALEX AZAR: The first visit by a head of the Department of Health and Human Services would strictly observe the CECC’s special regulations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar is to lead a delegation to Taiwan — the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official since the two sides cut formal relations in 1979. The plan was announced yesterday morning by the US Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Beijing has expressed its concerns to Washington, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said later yesterday. Taiwan and the US only issued statements saying that the visit would happen “in the coming days.” MOFA said that due to security concerns, it would
‘CROSS-STRAIT CONSIDERATIONS’: Groups said that the Ministry of Education’s policies excluded Chinese and students should not be blocked over political issues The Taiwan International Student Movement yesterday said it would protest today outside the Ministry of Education in Taipei against a policy that excludes some Chinese students from returning to Taiwan amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since June 17, the ministry has allowed foreign students from 19 “low risk” and “medium-low risk” countries and regions to enter Taiwan. On July 22, it announced that it was relaxing restrictions to include students from all countries and regions who are graduating this semester and on Wednesday it further expanded entry to students enrolled in degree programs. A letter sent by the ministry on Wednesday to universities did
The military last week sent “no small number” of Marine Corps officers to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) following reports of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drill targeting the islands scheduled for this month. In an interview with Hong Kong’s Bauhinia Magazine published on Saturday last week, PLA National Defense University professor Li Daguang (李大光) confirmed that the Chinese army was planning to stage a simulated invasion of the Pratas Islands in the South China Sea this month. The islands comprise three atolls, with Pratas Island, at 1.74km2, being the largest. They lie southwest of Taiwan proper in the South
‘CORRUPTION’: One DPP lawmaker and two KMT legislators were held incommunicado, while former NPP chairman Hsu Yung-ming was released on bail in the Pacific Sogo case The Taipei District Court yesterday ordered that three lawmakers be held incommunicado amid a probe into allegedly bribery relating to an ownership dispute over Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨). The three are Su Chen-ching (蘇震清) of the Democratic Progressive Party, and Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Also held incommunicado were Su’s office director Yu Hsueh-yang (余學洋) and Sufin’s office director Ting Fu-hua (丁復華), as well as Kuo Ke-ming (郭克銘), a political lobbyist and general manager of Knowledge International Consultancy (是知管理顧問公司). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday raided the offices of six incumbent and former
RSS