The United States announced a new $1.1 billion weapons package to Taiwan on Friday, in a new bid to boost the island's defenses as tensions run high with Beijing.
The arms, announced by the U.S. State Department, include $665 million for an early radar warning system to help Taiwan track incoming missiles.
The potential $1.1 billion sale of military equipment to Taiwan, including 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The package was announced in the wake of China's aggressive military drills around Taiwan following a visit to the island last month by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking U.S. official to travel to Taipei in years.
The sale includes Sidewinder Missiles and related equipment at a cost of some $85.6 million, Harpoon Missiles and related equipment at an estimated $355 million cost and support for Taiwan's surveillance radar program and related equipment for an estimated $665.4 million, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
The order reflects the continued support for Taiwan from President Joe Biden's administration as Taipei faces pressure from China, which has never ruled out using force to bring the democratically ruled island under its control.
The U.S. State Department said the equipment is necessary for Taiwan to “maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.” The administration notified Congress of the sale after close of business on Friday.
The administration said the deals comply with the U.S. "One China" policy. It also urged Beijing ”to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan."
The acrimony and strident rhetoric between the U.S. and China over Taiwan have increased sharply since Pelosi visited the island last month. Since Pelosi's trip to Taipei there have been at least two other congressional visits and several by governors of U.S. states, all of which China has condemned.
On Thursday, Taiwan's military said it shot down a drone hovering over one of its island outposts just off the Chinese coast in an incident that underscored the heightened tensions. A day earlier, Taiwan said it had warned off drones hovering over three of the islands it occupies off the coast of the Chinese port city of Xiamen.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. The sides split after a civil war in 1949 and have no official relations, with China cutting off even informal contacts following the election of independence-leaning Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016.
Tsai’s administration has pushed for a strengthening of anti-drone defenses as part of a 12.9% increase in its defense ministry’s annual budget next year. That would boost defense spending by an additional 47.5 billion new Taiwan dollars ($1.6 billion), for a total of 415.1 billion new Taiwan dollars.
The U.S. described Chinese drills last month as a severe overreaction and responded by sailing two guided missile cruisers through the Taiwan Strait, which China has declared to be its sovereign waters.
Taipei says the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island and has no right to claim it.
