Taiwan’s Defence Ministry on Thursday announced that the U.S. government is moving forward with an $11.1 billion arms sale to the island, marking the largest weapons package ever offered by Washington to Taipei. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has strongly opposed such transactions.
The proposed sale, the second under U.S. President Donald Trump’s current administration, comes amid increased military and diplomatic pressure from Beijing, while Taiwan continues to reject China’s sovereignty claims.
According to Taiwan’s Defence Ministry, the package includes eight items, such as HIMARS rocket systems, howitzers, anti-tank missiles, drones, and parts for other equipment.
“The United States continues to assist Taiwan in maintaining sufficient self-defence capabilities and in rapidly building strong deterrent power and leveraging asymmetric warfare advantages, which form the foundation for maintaining regional peace and stability,” the ministry said in a statement.
The package is currently at the Congressional notification stage, giving U.S. lawmakers the opportunity to block or modify the sale, though it enjoys broad cross-party support in Congress.
Taiwan has been reshaping its military under U.S. guidance to conduct “asymmetric warfare,” relying on mobile, smaller, and cost-effective weapons, such as drones, which can still deliver targeted strikes against larger forces.
Washington maintains formal diplomatic relations with Beijing but keeps unofficial ties with Taiwan, serving as the island’s primary arms supplier. U.S. law obliges the country to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though such arms sales remain a point of tension with China.
Despite concerns that Trump’s deal-making approach and his planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next year could weaken U.S. support for Taiwan, U.S. officials earlier this year indicated plans to increase weapons sales to Taipei beyond levels seen in Trump’s first term to deter China.
The Trump administration’s national security strategy, released earlier this month, emphasized preserving U.S. “military overmatch” in the region to deter conflict over Taiwan, a position welcomed in Taipei. The strategy also underscored Taiwan’s strategic importance, noting that the island divides “Northeast and Southeast Asia into two distinct theatres.”
Taiwan’s Presidential Office expressed its gratitude for the U.S. approval. “Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region are indispensable to the security and prosperity of the international community,” spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement.
The U.S. State Department and China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
