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The United States has announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan as the US-China tensions escalate over the status of the island." This sale comes a month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defiantly visited the self-governing democracy, prompting mainland China to launch a show of force that could be a trial run for a future invasion.
The sale includes Sidewinder missiles, which can be used for air-to-air and surface-attack missions, at a cost of some $85.6 million, Harpoon anti-ship missiles at an estimated $355 million cost and support for Taiwan's surveillance radar program for an estimated $665.4 million, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said.
The Pentagon said the equipment and support announced on Friday would not alter the basic military balance in the region. U.S. officials said they did not reflect any change in policy toward Taiwan.
"These proposed sales are routine cases to support Taiwan’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability," a U.S. Department of State spokesperson said, requesting anonymity.
The announcement comes one day after Taiwanese forces shot down an unidentified commercial drone amid a sudden spate of mysterious incursions that have unnerved the island following the earlier show of force by Beijing, which said it fired ballistic missiles over the capital Taipei.
China, calling Taiwan an "inalienable" part of its territory, called on the United States to "immediately revoke" the arms sales.
"It sends wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces and severely jeopardizes China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," said Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington.
"China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation," he said.
The order reflects continued US support for Taiwan as Taipei faces pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and has never ruled out using force to bring the democratically ruled island under its control.
Ahead of the visit of Pelosi, who is second in line to the White House, Biden officials quietly made the case to China that she did not represent the administration policy as Congress is a separate and equal branch of government.
The weapons approval, by contrast, clearly comes from the Biden administration although it is consistent with sales since 1979 when the United States switched recognition to Beijing but agreed to maintain Taiwan's capacity for self-defense.
Biden, on a trip to Tokyo in May, appeared to break with decades of US policy by saying the United States would defend Taiwan directly if it is attacked although his aides later walked back his remarks, insisting that US policy remained ambiguous.
China considers Taiwan a province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. China's nationalists set up a rival government in Taiwan in 1949 after losing the mainland's civil war although the island has since blossomed into a vibrant democracy and major technological hub.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has raised growing questions on whether China may follow suit in Taiwan and whether the island is equipped to defend itself.
In a July appearance, CIA chief Bill Burns said that Chinese President Xi Jinping was still determined to assert control over Taiwan but that Russia's woes in Ukraine may have prompted Beijing to wait and make sure it can have an overwhelming military advantage.
(With inputs from agencies)