US President Joe Biden on Sunday approved US$567 million in defense assistance for Taiwan, the White House said.
While the US does not officially recognize Taiwan diplomatically, it is Taipei’s key partner and a major provider of weapons — a point of consternation for Beijing, which has repeatedly called on Washington to stop arming the nation, which it claims is part of its territory.
The White House in a brief statement said that Biden had delegated the US secretary of state “to direct the drawdown of up to US$567 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan.”
Photo: AP
The package is nearly twice the size of the US$345 million in defense support approved in July last year.
However, the statement did not provide specific details about the latest package.
In a Defense News report published on Sept. 21, an unnamed US official was quoted as saying the package would “fund training, stockpiles, anti-armor weapons, air defense and multi-domain awareness.”
It would also include drones, which are key to the US’ and Taiwan’s “asymmetric” strategy to defend the nation against China’s much larger military, the report said.
The Pentagon is working on a third aid package for Taiwan and the Biden administration plans to complete it before the end of its term in January next year, the report added.
The US in April approved billions of US dollars in military aid for Taiwan in the face of an increasingly assertive China.
China maintains a near-daily presence of fighter jets, drones and warships around Taiwan.
Additional reporting by CNA
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