The US would continue to provide defensive weapons to Taiwan, despite Beijing’s protests over the approval of an arms deal last week, US Department of State spokesman Vedant Patel said on Tuesday.
Patel said there is “no reason for China to react” to the US$1.1 billion deal, as the weapons systems are for defensive purposes.
“The United States has been providing defensive capabilities to Taiwan for decades, which is in line with our long-standing commitments under not just the Taiwan Relations Act, but it’s also consistent with our ‘one China’ policy,” he told a news briefing.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
“In line with that policy, the US will continue to meet Taiwan’s defense needs. This package was in the works for some time precisely because we expected it would be needed as China increased its pressure on Taiwan,” he said. “We have and we will continue to be responsible, steady, and resolute and keep our lines of communication open with Beijing, but also continue to support Taiwan ... in ways that are consistent with our policy.”
The arms deals includes 60 AGM-84L-1 Harpoon Block II missiles, four ATM-84L-1 Harpoon Block II exercise missiles, 100 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder tactical missiles and a surveillance radar contract extension.
White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said the package reflects the US’ “assessment of Taiwan’s self-defense needs in a modern sense, and the threat that they’re under, and the threat that’s being posed by the PRC,” referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“Watching what the PRC did during and in the wake of [US House of Representatives] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi’s visit only reinforces our view that these items will obviously help Taiwan better defend itself,” he said, referring to China’s week-long military drills around Taiwan following Pelosi’s visit to Taipei early last month.
Separately on Tuesday, a US general said that the US is prepared to attack “the full depth” of China’s logistics should Beijing invade Taiwan.
“That does not come as a surprise to anybody, but in the full depth we are going to attack logistics,” US Lieutenant General Clinton Hinote, the US Air Force deputy chief of staff, strategy, integration and requirements, told the Atlantic Council in a teleconference on air power.
“I would hope that our potential adversary China might think about that if they are contemplating the difficulty of crossing a 90 mile [145km] strait and going against Taiwan,” he said, referring to the Taiwan Strait.
“I would hope they would realize that we are not just going to let their logistics flow,” Hinote said. “We are going to do everything we can to stop it and make that one of the most difficult military operations in history.”
The US’ strategic position is to defend and maintain the “status quo,” which means the air force should leverage the mutual denial of air power in potential conflict zones, he said.
“We do not want to see China come over the Taiwan Strait to invade Taiwan or send missiles toward Japan. We do not want to see a resurgent Russia attack into a NATO ally,” he said. “We are proponents of the status quo and ... [our] military ought to reflect that.”
Hinote has long called for greater efforts to address China’s rising military capabilities.
“The definitive answer if the US military doesn’t change course is that we’re going to lose fast. In that case, an American president would likely be presented with almost a fait accompli,” he told Yahoo News in March last year.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Chin
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