A major US arms package for Taiwan that includes advanced interceptor missiles is ready for US President Donald Trump’s approval and could be signed after his trip to China this month, sources briefed on the discussions said.
With a price tag of about US$14 billion, the arms deal would be the largest ever for Taiwan.
Sources familiar with the administration’s thinking said the deal is being held under wraps ahead of Trump’s planned March 31 to April 2 trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), but could be announced after he returns.
Photo: Cheng I-hwa, AFP
Xi told Trump last month that arms sales to Taiwan must be handled with “prudence.”
Trump’s moves to secure a favorable trade deal with China have raised concerns among some China watchers that he could curb US military support for Taiwan, but the likely arms approval suggests that the administration plans to maintain or even increase support.
The package largely consists of PAC-3 and NASAMS air defense missiles, one of the sources said.
“As soon as the president gives the thumbs up, those are ready to be officially announced. Everything is done,” said the person, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.
Another US$6 billion in “asymmetric” defense capabilities is also awaiting approval and could be announced in linked or subsequent packages, the source added.
The source declined to specify what those capabilities are.
Trump’s National Security Strategy issued late last year says that deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority for Washington, “ideally by preserving military overmatch.”
However, Trump’s comments, including a remark made last month to journalists that he was “talking” to Xi about Taiwanese arms sales, have stirred speculation that he could scale back the long-standing US practice of providing Taiwan with the means to defend itself, which is written into US law.
Nonetheless, Trump’s arms sales approvals to the nation in his second term have already surpassed the amount approved by his predecessor, former US president Joe Biden, over four years, including an US$11 billion package in December last year that greenlighted various missiles, drones, artillery and aircraft parts.
Analysts say US administrations going back decades have timed weapons approvals for Taiwan around sensitive political engagements with Beijing.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the government’s “opposition to US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region is consistent and unequivocal.”
In response to questions to the White House, a senior US official confirmed more weapons approvals were in the works.
“Arms sales are working their way through the process. There is no change to our policy with respect to Taiwan,” the official said.
Two sources in Taiwan familiar with the matter said that Washington has repeatedly assured them of its support, but the upcoming summit has been a source of uncertainty.
Beijing is seeking to delay US arms sales to Taiwan and has been trying to create a better atmosphere ahead of the summit, including by toning down military pressure on the nation, another source in Taiwan familiar with the matter said.
“We have confidence in Trump, though. Beijing has underestimated the strategic vision of the White House,” the source said.
The Ministry of National Defense said that its arms procurement projects have completed “preliminary coordination” with the US, and the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has provided information on items to be purchased and delivery schedules.
The defense ministry in January said that an arms deal with the US covering four items was in the offing, but said it could not give details before they were provided to the US Congress, the usual process for approval of such sales.
The US Department of State has said it supports increased defense spending by Taiwan.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene in January said that the US was “fully committed to delivering critical systems as quickly as possible.”
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS