Trump administration plan to sell record $10 billion in arms to Taiwan draws angry response from China

Washington – The Trump administration announced a major package of arms sales to Taiwan worth more than $10 billion including medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, prompting an angry response China.

The State Department announced the sale late Wednesday during a nationally televised speech by President Trump, who spoke little on foreign policy issues and did not mention China or Taiwan at all.

Tensions between the US and China, the world’s two largest economies, have ebbed and flowed during Mr. Trump’s second term. Trump, mainly because of trade and tariffs but also because of China’s increasing aggression towards Taiwan, which Beijing has promised to integrate with the mainland. President Xi Jinping has not ruled out the use of force to make that happen.

If approved by Congress, it would be the largest US arms package ever to Taiwan, surpassing the total of $8.4 billion in US arms sales to Taiwan during the Biden administration.

Eight arms sales agreements announced Wednesday include 82 advanced rockets, or HIMARSand 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS – similar to what the US used to provide Ukraine during the Biden administration to protect themselves from Russia – worth more than four billion dollars. They also include 60 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4 billion and drones worth more than $1 billion.

Other sales in the package include military software worth more than $1 billion, Javelin and TOW missiles worth more than $700 million, helicopter spare parts worth $96 million and Harpoon missile refurbishing kits worth $91 million.

The eight sales contracts are worth $11.15 billion, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense.

The State Department said the sale serves “US national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s ongoing efforts to modernize its forces and to maintain a reliable defensive capability.”

“The proposed sale will help improve the recipient’s security and help maintain political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region,” the statements said.

China blasts US-Taiwan arms deal, says it will “end up backfiring”

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has attacked this move, saying it will violate bilateral agreements between China and the US; seriously harming China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity; and undermining regional stability.

“The ‘Taiwan Independence’ forces on the island seek independence by force and resist reunification by force, still wasting people’s hard-earned money to buy weapons at the expense of turning Taiwan into dust,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun.

“This cannot save the doomed fate of ‘Taiwan independence’ but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait into a dangerous state of military confrontation and war. US support for ‘Taiwan Independence’ through the use of weapons will eventually lead back. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed,” added Guo.

US role in Taiwan’s “defense capabilities”.

Under federal law, the US has an obligation to assist Taiwan in its defense, a point that has become a point of contention with China, which has vowed to take Taiwan by force, if necessary.

President Trump, on exclusive 60-minute interview aired in early November, said Chinese President Xi Jinping did not raise the Taiwan issue when the two leaders met in late October, but said Xi knew the “consequences” of taking military action against the island.

“He didn’t reveal it. People were surprised by that,” said Mr. Trump. “But they understand what’s going to happen. He’s been outspoken, and his people have said openly in meetings, ‘We will never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences.”

Asked by CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell whether he would order the US military to defend Taiwan if Xi were to continue military operations on the island, Mr. Trump said, “I can’t give away my secrets.”

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry in a statement on Thursday expressed gratitude to the US for the arms sales, which it said would help Taiwan maintain “adequate defense capabilities” and bring in a strong deterrence force. Taiwan’s strengthening of its defense is “the basis for maintaining regional peace and stability,” the minister said.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung similarly thanked the US for its “long-term support for Taiwan’s regional security and defense capabilities,” which he said are key to preventing conflicts in the Taiwan Strait, the waterway that separates Taiwan from mainland China.

The arms sales come as Taiwan’s government has pledged to increase defense spending to 3.3% of the island’s gross domestic product next year and to 5% by 2030. The development took place after Mr. The demand faced a backlash from Taiwan’s KMT opposition party and its own populists.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te last month announced a special budget of $40 billion for weapons procurement, including building an air defense system with high-altitude intelligence capabilities called the Taiwan Dome. The budget will be distributed over eight years, from 2026 to 2033.

The increase in US military aid to Taiwan was first reviewed in legislation passed by Congress that is expected to be signed by Mr. Trump signed it soon.

Last week, China’s ambassador to Washington criticized the law, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, saying it unfairly targeted China as an aggressor. The US The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday.