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
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS