The Biden administration’s first significant package utilizing American stockpiles to assist Taiwan against China includes $345 million in military assistance for Taiwan.
Defense, education, and training for Taiwanese citizens are all part of the package, according to the White House.
According to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, Washington will deploy MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance tools, weapons, and missiles.
The Pentagon and White House are under pressure from American politicians to deliver weaponry to Taiwan quickly.
By giving Taipei enough weapons to make an invasion too expensive, the objectives are to assist Taipei in countering China and to discourage China from considering striking.
Taiwan’s embassy in the U.S. said the administration’s decision to remove weapons and other supplies from its stores provided “an important tool to support Taiwan’s self-defense”; however, Chinese diplomats objected to the action.
In a statement, it vowed to cooperate with the United States to uphold “peace, stability, and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
The U.S. was commended for “its firm commitment to Taiwan’s security” in a statement from Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.
The package comes on top of the almost $19 billion in military sales to Taiwan that the US has authorized, including shipments of F-16s and other expensive weaponry equipment.
Supply chain problems, which first surfaced during the COVID-19 outbreak and were exacerbated by the strains brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have hindered the delivery of those weapons.
The distinction is that Taiwan won’t have to wait for military manufacturing and sales because this help is a component of a presidential power that was approved by Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles.
Compared to funding for new weapons, this expedites the delivery of weaponry. A similar power was utilized by the Pentagon to deliver to Ukraine weapons valued at billions of dollars.
During a civil war, Taiwan broke away from China in 1949. Chinese President Xi Jinping insists China has the right to annex the island that is currently governed by itself, using force if necessary.
The U.S. has been accused by China of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg” by promising to sell billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry.
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