Washington’s long-term commitment to Taiwan would not change, the US Department of State said yesterday, urging Beijing to stop pressuring Taiwan and engage in meaningful bilateral dialogues.
The remarks came in response to a backlash from Beijing about Washington’s latest approval of arms sales to Taiwan.
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement on Wednesday that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US has asked to purchase an arms package, including Tactical Mission Network Software; AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts; M109A7 self-propelled howitzers; HIMARS long range precision strike systems; tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles; Javelin missiles; refurbishment kits for Harpoon missiles; and Altius-600M and Altius-700M loitering munition drones.
Photo: Reuters
The package is worth more than US$11.15 billion, it said, adding that it has approved the arms sale and let the agency inform the US Congress of the deal.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted with strong opposition soon after the arms sale was announced.
Washington is undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait by sending a seriously wrong signal to the pro-Taiwanese independence forces, it said.
In response to Central News Agency queries about the matter, a source from the US State Department said on condition of anonymity that the US administration has explicitly expressed its position on the US’ relations with Taiwan.
The US would not change its long-term commitment to Taiwan, which has continued for more than 40 years, they said.
Washington urges Beijing to refrain from imposing military, diplomatic or economic pressure on Taiwan, they said, adding that Beijing should instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan.
This is the second time that the US has announced an arms sale to Taiwan since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
The previous sale occurred about one month ago when Washington on Nov. 13 announced a US$330 million arms sale to Taiwan, which included spare parts for fighter and transportation aircraft, marking the first US arms sale to Taiwan under “Trump 2.0.”
In other developments, the US Senate on Friday approved a set of US Cabinet nominees proposed by Trump by a 53-43 vote.
The nominations included many ministerial officials at the defense and state departments, such as John Noh for assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs at the US Department of Defense, as well as Tammy Bruce, who was nominated by Trump as US deputy representative to the UN.
Asked about US-Taiwan security cooperation while attending the US Senate Armed Services Committee’s nomination hearing in October, Noh said that major reforms in various aspects to Taiwan’s defense capabilities are required, including training, mobilization and civil-military integration.
Defensive infrastructure and cybersecurity operations must also be strengthened, he added.
Noh also said that he would accelerate the delivery of US arms sales to Taiwan by giving optimal advice to the US government based on currently available institutional means, such as the US Foreign Military Sales program, the presidential drawdown authority, and the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative.
Regarding Taiwan’s defense budget, Noh at the hearing expressed strong support in line with Trump’s viewpoint.
He cited Trump as saying that Taiwan should increase defense spending to 10 percent of its GDP, as it is facing an existential threat from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
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