The U.S. State Department approved $1.8 billion in new arms for Taiwan and submitted the package to Congress Wednesday for a final review in a move aimed at improving the island¡¯s self-defense capabilities against a long-threatened invasion by China.
The package includes 135 SLAM-extended-range land attack missiles from Boeing Co. valued at $1 billion if the entire sale goes through, $436 million for Himars mobile artillery rocket systems made by Lockheed Martin Corp. and $367 million in surveillance and reconnaissance sensors from Raytheon Technologies Corp. to be mounted on aircraft.
The submission to Congress for a 30-day review, which is unlikely to draw opposition, comes two months after the U.S. and Taiwan completed the sale of 66 new model F-16 Block 70 aircraft from Lockheed.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang criticized that sale as ¡°severe interference in China¡¯s internal affairs¡± that would ¡°undermine China¡¯s sovereignty and security interests.¡± He vowed retaliation including sanctions against the U.S. companies involved.
The latest arms package comes as tensions between Taiwan and China rise following Beijing¡¯s increasingly tough approach toward Hong Kong. China¡¯s Communist Party ¡ª which claims democratically run Taiwan as part of its territory ¡ª has steadily increased its diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan. In recent weeks, the People¡¯s Liberation Army has stepped up incursions into the air-defense-identification zone around the island.
The land-attack missiles in particular ¡°will improve the recipient¡¯s capability to meet current and future threats as it provides all-weather, day and night, precision attack capabilities against both moving and stationary targets,¡± State said.
The U.S. has sought to push back on the Chinese pressure. Two senior U.S. officials, including Undersecretary of State Keith Krach, have visited Taiwan since August in a show of support.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in an Oct. 9 interview on the Hugh Hewitt show that the ¡°administration has been relentless in the work that we have done to make sure that the understandings that we¡¯ve had between ourselves and China as they relate to Taiwan are delivered upon.¡±
¡°We are going to make sure that we live up to all of the obligations we have to Taiwan,¡± Pompeo added.
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