WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- The Biden administration plans to ask the U.S. Congress to approve an estimated $1.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan, including 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles, Politico reported, citing sources, amid heightened tensions with China.
China carried out its largest war games around the mutinous island after a visit this month by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Beijing has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control.
China on Monday dismissed complaints from Taiwan about repeated flights by Chinese drones very close to Taiwanese-controlled islands as not anything “to make a fuss about”.
President Joe Biden’s administration and U.S. lawmakers stress their ongoing support for the government in Taipei, and there are data-x-items in the approval pipeline for Taiwan that could be announced in the coming weeks or months, Reuters reported last week.
But the focus will be on sustaining Taiwan’s current military systems and fulfilling existing orders - rather than offering new capabilities more likely to inflame already red-hot tensions with China, according to three sources, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
According to the Politico, the package, which is still in an early stage, includes 60 AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles for $355 million, 100 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder tactical air-to-air missiles for $85.6 million, and $655.4 million for a surveillance radar contract extension. The Sidewinder missiles will arm Taipei’s U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets.
The U.S. has maintained its adherence to the so-called One China policy outlined in the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, which stipulates that the U.S. would not establish formal diplomatic relations with Taipei.
The TRA also created the “strategic ambiguity” doctrine whereby the U.S. remains purposely noncommittal about whether it would militarily defend Taiwan against an invasion. Lawmakers in both parties have pushed to scrap that policy.
The Chinese navy on Sunday kept a close watch as two American warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait, separating China and Taiwan, the first such operation since Pelosi visited Taipei, sparking a new round of tensions between the two countries.
The U.S. warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait where the Chinese military has carried out its biggest exercises for several days in August, often crossing the median line that separated the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, which Beijing adamantly claims as part of it.