Deal consists of spare components for fighter jets and radar techniques as President Lai heads to Pacific, with stops in US.
The US has signed off on $385m in new weapons gross sales to Taiwan, the newest signal of deepening army ties which have unsettled China.
The US expects to start delivering the army gear, together with spare components for fighter jets and radar techniques, in 2025, the US Protection Safety Cooperation Company (DSCA) stated in an announcement on Friday.
The sale authorized by the US Division of State will guarantee Taiwan can “meet present and future threats by sustaining the operational readiness” of its F-16 fleet, stated the DSCA.
On Saturday, Taiwan’s President William Lai Ching-te set off for a visit to the Pacific, with deliberate stopovers within the US which have prompted fury from China.
China claims the self-ruled democracy as its personal and has not dominated out using power to attain its objective of unification. It has lengthy opposed US arms gross sales to Taiwan.
Whereas heading on Saturday to Pacific allies Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, Lai will make stops within the US state of Hawaii and territory of Guam on his first international journey since taking office in May.
In a speech shortly earlier than takeoff, Lai stated the tour “ushered in a brand new period of values-based democracy” and he thanked the US authorities for “serving to to make this journey a clean one”.
China’s Ministry of International Affairs stated it opposes Taiwan’s leaders “scurrying” to the US, which regardless of missing formal diplomatic ties is the island’s largest arms provider and backer.
The US ought to “deal with the Taiwan problem with utmost warning, unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence, and assist the peaceable reunification of China”, stated ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
The State Division responded that it sees “no justification for a non-public, routine, and unofficial transit for use as a pretext for provocation”.
‘Consolidate our safety partnership’
That is the 18th arms deal announced during the tenure of US President Joe Biden, in line with Taiwan, which has more and more sought to broaden army ties with its ally.
Final month, the US approved a $2bn arms sale package for Taiwan, together with superior surface-to-air missile techniques and radar.
The Ministry of Nationwide Protection in Taipei “expressed gratitude” to the US for the weapons assist and stated it was decided to strengthen its defences within the face of China’s army strain.
“Taiwan and the USA will proceed to consolidate our safety partnership,” it stated.
China has ramped up army strain on Taiwan lately with near-daily deployments of fighter jets and warships across the island.
On Saturday, Taiwan’s defence ministry stated 18 Chinese language army plane and 7 naval vessels in addition to two balloons had been detected within the 24 hours to 6am (22:00 GMT Friday).
