The White House is moving forward with three sales of advanced weapons to Taiwan.
Washington:
The White House is moving forward with three advanced arms sales to Taiwan, sending a notification of the deals to Congress for approval in recent days, five sources said on Monday, as China threatened retaliation.
The move ahead of the November 3 US election, first reported by Reuters, is likely to anger China, which sees Taiwan as a capricious province that it has promised to reunite with the mainland, per force if necessary.
Reuters reported in September that as many as seven major weapon systems were going through the U.S. export process as the Trump administration increased pressure on China.
Leaders of the House of Representatives’ Senate foreign relations and foreign affairs committees have been told that three of the planned arms sales have been approved by the US State Department which oversees military sales abroad, said the sources, who know the situation but refused to be. identified.
The informal notifications concerned a truck-based rocket launcher made by Lockheed Martin Corp called the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), long-range air-to-surface missiles made by Boeing Co called SLAM-ER, and external sensors for Jets. F-16 which allow real-time transmission of images and data from the aircraft to the ground stations.
Notifications of the sale of other weapons systems, including sophisticated large aerial drones, land-based Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and underwater mines, to deter amphibious landings, have yet to reach Capitol Hill, but they were expected soon, the sources said.
A State Department spokesperson said, “As a matter of principle, the United States does not confirm or comment on proposed defense sales or transfers until they are officially notified to Congress.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said US arms sales to Taiwan have severely damaged China’s sovereignty and security, urging Washington to clearly recognize the wrongs they have done. caused and cancel them immediately.
“China will provide a legitimate and necessary response as the situation develops,” Zhao told reporters in Beijing, without giving further details.
Congressional support for Taiwan
The foreign affairs committees of the US Senate and the House of Foreign Representatives have the right to review and block arms sales through an informal review process before the State Department does ‘sends its official notification to the legislative power.
Lawmakers, who are generally wary of what they perceive as Chinese aggression and support Taiwan, should not oppose sales to Taiwan.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said it would only comment when there is official notification of any arms sales. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said the government had not yet been officially informed.
“China continues to use military provocation to undermine cross-strait and regional stability, stressing the importance of strengthening Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” Ou said.
News that new arms sales were advancing came after senior U.S. officials last week told Taiwan to spend more on its own defense and conduct military reforms to make China understand the risks of an attempt. invasion.
It comes at a time when China has dramatically stepped up military activities near Taiwan and as US-China relations have plunged to decades at a time ahead of the US election. President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden have both sought to appear harsh in their approach to Beijing.
Speaking on Wednesday, US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien warned against any attempt to take back Taiwan by force, saying amphibious landings were notoriously difficult and there was a lot of ambiguity on how the United States would react.
The United States is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but it did not say whether it would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese attack, which would likely lead to a much larger conflict with Beijing. .
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
