Seeking to slow China, US prepares $345 million in arms for Taiwan
Seeking to slow China, US prepares $345 million in arms for Taiwan
Robert Besser
02 Aug 2023, 20:47 GMT+10
- As part of the Biden administration’s first major military aid package that will draw from US stockpiles to help Taiwan counter China, Washington has announced military aid for Taiwan worth $345 million
- The White House said the package will include defense, education and training for Taiwanese military personnel
- Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles
As part of the Biden administration’s first major military aid package that will draw from US stockpiles to help Taiwan counter China, Washington has announced military aid for Taiwan worth $345 million.
The White House said the package will include defense, education and training for Taiwanese military personnel.
Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles.
In an effort to assist Taiwan in countering China and deter it from attacking by providing Taipei enough weaponry that it would make the price of invasion too high, the Pentagon and White House have been under pressure to speed weapons deliveries to the self-governed island.
In a statement, Taiwan’s representative office in the US said the administration’s decision to pull arms and other materiel from its stores provided “an important tool to support Taiwan’s self-defense.”
It also pledged to work with the US to maintain “peace, stability and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”
In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense also thanked “the US for its firm commitment to Taiwan’s security.”
The latest package is in addition to some $19 billion in US military sales of F-16 fighter jets and other major weapons systems approved by the US for Taiwan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping maintains China’s right to take over Taiwan, by force if necessary.
Beijing accused the US of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg” through the billions of dollars in weapons sales.
Earlier this year, Pentagon deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks told The Associated Press, “Getting stockpiles of weapons to Taiwan now, before an attack begins, is one of the lessons the US has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
Ukraine “was more of a cold-start approach than the planned approach we have been working on for Taiwan, and we will apply those lessons,” Hicks stressed.
In a statement, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said that Beijing was “firmly opposed” to US military ties with Taiwan.
The US should “stop selling arms to Taiwan” and “stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” he added.
Share article:
Share
Tweet
Share
Flip
Email
ED Is Awkward.Using Eddie Isn’t. Learn More Here.Eddie by Giddy|
