According to reports in the media, the administration of President Joe Biden intends to seek Congress to authorize a USD 1.1 billion weapons sale to Taiwan that would involve the transfer of hundreds of missiles for fighter planes as well as anti-shipping systems.
According to reports from the Sputnik News Agency, the sale would consist of sixty anti-ship Harpoon missiles, one hundred Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, and a renewal of a contract for a monitoring radar.
After a visit by Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to Taiwan earlier this month, China conducted its biggest war drills in the region around Taiwan. This trip was the highest-ranking official from the United States to visit the island in the last quarter of a century.
After she departed, China’s response consisted of conducting military maneuvers for many days in the area surrounding the island.
A few weeks after China began its military drill around the self-ruled island country following the visit of the US House Speaker, Taiwan had proposed a budget for defense in the amount of USD 17.3 billion for the year 2023. This represents an increase of 14.9 percent from the total allocation for this year.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington issued a statement in response to allegations that the United States may transfer weapons to Taiwan, stating that the United States must immediately cease sending weapons to the island.
As stated by the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, Liu Pengyu, as reported by Sputnik News Agency, “The United States side needs to immediately stop arms sales to and military contact with Taiwan, stop creating factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and follow through on the United States government statement of not supporting ‘Taiwan independence.'”
The spokesman also said that the sale of US armaments to Taiwan is a severe violation of the concept that there is only one China, and that Beijing would continue to take determined and forceful steps to safeguard Chinese sovereignty and security interests.
During this time, two warships from the United States Navy made their way into the Taiwan Strait. This was the first passage of its kind since China conducted extraordinary military maneuvers surrounding Taiwan.
The democratic and self-ruled island of Taiwan is separated from the Chinese mainland by a stretch of water that is 110 miles long and is called the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing makes the assertion that Taiwan is part of China even though the Chinese Communist Party has never been in control of the island. Beijing also considers the Taiwan Strait to be a part of China’s “internal seas.”