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Mike Brest, Defense Reporter


NextImg:Taiwan military to get more than $600 million US arms boost amid China tension

The United States approved a possible military sale to Taiwan worth more than $600 million on Wednesday as Taipei reported a second straight day of large-scale Chinese Air Force incursions.

This potential sale, valued at $619 million, for arms and equipment, would include 200 anti-aircraft Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and 100 AGM-88B HARM missiles, among other weapons.

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"The proposed sale will contribute to the recipient's capability to provide for the defense of its airspace, regional security, and interoperability with the United States," the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement. The main contractors for the sale will be Raytheon Missiles and Defense and Lockheed Martin.

Taiwan's defense ministry said the missiles would help "effectively defend the airspace to deal with threats and provocations from the Communist military,” according to Reuters. In contrast, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it “firmly opposes” the deal.

“The U.S. arms sales to China’s Taiwan region seriously violate the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, especially the August 17 Communiqué. Such sales undermine China’s sovereignty and security interests and harm China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China firmly opposes this,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday.

“We urge the U.S. to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, stop arms sales to and military contact with Taiwan, and stop creating factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait. China will continue to take resolute and strong measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and security interests," she noted, adding, "The U.S.’s calculus to use Taiwan to contain China are the root cause of the tensions in the Taiwan Strait."

Taiwan’s defense ministry reported 29 Chinese military aircraft and four vessels around the country on Thursday, while a day earlier, it reported 25 aircraft and three vessels were detected nearby.

China continues to believe that Taiwan is part of its country, while the island is governed independently. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said he wants the military prepared to invade Taiwan and take it by force by 2027, though it's not definite that they will invade then.

“We do know, as has been made public, that President Xi has instructed the PLA, the Chinese military leadership, to be ready by 2027 to invade Taiwan, but that doesn't mean that he's decided to invade in 2027 or any other year as well. I think our judgment at least is that President Xi and his military leadership have doubts today about whether they could accomplish that invasion," CIA Director William Burns said last week.

Xi likely is watching Russia's war in Ukraine for insight into how the west has responded, though it's likely not great news for his ambitions.

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"It's conceivable, but I think there's no foreign leader who's watched more carefully Vladimir Putin's experience in Ukraine, the evolution of the war than Xi Jinping has. And I think, in many ways, he's been unsettled and sobered by what he's seen. I think he was surprised by the very poor military performance of the Russians," he added. "I think surprised also by the degree of Western solidarity and support of Ukraine. In other words, the willingness of not just the United States but our European allies as well to absorb a certain amount of economic cost in the interest of inflicting greater economic damage on Russia over time. So all of that, I think, has sobered Xi Jinping to some extent."

Russia’s ongoing failures in Ukraine likely “reinforced” some of Beijing's concerns about whether they're capable of taking Taiwan, the director said.