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 US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
RSS