WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State Department announced the sales late Wednesday during a nationally televised address<\/a> by President Donald Trump, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak about China or Taiwan at all. U.S.-Chinese tensions have ebbed and flowed during Trump\u2019s second term, largely over trade and tariffs but also over China\u2019s increasing aggressiveness toward Taiwan, which Beijing has said must reunify with the mainland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The eight arms sales agreements announced Wednesday cover 82 high-mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS, and 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS \u2014 similar to what the U.S. had been providing Ukraine during the Biden administration to defend itself from Russia \u2014 worth more than $4 billion. They also include 60 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4 billion and drones valued at more than $1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other sales in the package include military software valued at more than $1 billion, Javelin and TOW missiles worth more than $700 million, helicopter spare parts worth $96 million and refurbishment kits for Harpoon missiles worth $91 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In separate but nearly identical statements, the State Department said the sales serve \u201cU.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient\u2019s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe proposed sale(s) will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region,\u201d the statements said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n China’s Foreign Ministry attacked the move, saying it would violate diplomatic agreements between China and the U.S.; gravely harm China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity; and undermine regional stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe \u2018Taiwan independence\u2019 forces on the island seek independence through force and resist reunification through force, squandering the hard-earned money of the people to purchase weapons at the cost of turning Taiwan into a powder keg,\u201d said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis cannot save the doomed fate of \u2018Taiwan independence\u2019 but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The U.S. support for \u2018Taiwan Independence\u2019 through arms will only end up backfiring. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under federal law, the U.S. is obligated to assist Taiwan with its self-defense, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China, which has vowed to take Taiwan by force, if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taiwan’s Defense Ministry in a statement Thursday expressed gratitude to the U.S. over the arms sale, which it said would help Taiwan maintain \u201csufficient self-defense capabilities\u201d and bring strong deterrent capabilities. Taiwan’s bolstering of its defense \u201cis the foundation for maintaining regional peace and stability,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung similarly thanked the U.S. for its \u201clong-term support for regional security and Taiwan\u2019s self-defense capabilities,\u201d which he said are key for deterring a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the body of water separating Taiwan from China’s mainland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The arms sales comes as Taiwan’s government has pledged to raise defense spending<\/a> to 3.3% of the island’s gross domestic product next year and to reach 5% by 2030. The boost came after Trump and the Pentagon requested that Taiwan spend as much as 10% of its GDP on its defense, a percentage well above what the U.S. or any of its major allies spend on defense. The demand has faced pushback from Taiwan’s opposition KMT party and some of its population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te last month announced a special $40 billion budget<\/a> for arms purchases, including to build an air defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities called Taiwan Dome. The budget will be allocated over eight years, from 2026 to 2033.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. boost in military assistance to Taiwan was previewed in legislation adopted by Congress that Trump is expected to sign shortly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, the Chinese embassy in Washington denounced the legislation, known as the National Defense Authorization Act<\/a>, saying it unfairly targeted China as an aggressor. The U.S. Senate passed the bill Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n