The Trump administration asked Congress on Wednesday to approve an arms package for Taiwan valued at more than $11 billion, in what would be a huge injection of military aid to the self-governing democratic island bracing for a long-feared invasion by China.
If approved by Congress, as is likely given Taiwan’s strong bipartisan support, the package would exceed the $8.4 billion in arms sold to Taiwan during the Biden administration, according to figures recently compiled by the research arm of Britain’s House of Commons. And it would be equivalent to more than half the $18.3 billion in arms sold to Taiwan during President Trump’s first term in office.
The size of the proposal is likely to reassure China hawks in Washington who have grown uneasy about Trump’s commitment to defending Taiwan as he seeks to cut trade and economic deals with Beijing.
The arms sales cleared by the state department include more than $4 billion each for high mobility artillery rocket systems, known as HIMARS, and M109A7 self-propelled howitzers. The package would also include more than $700 million for Javelin and TOW anti-armor missiles, as well as Altius kamikaze drones made by the military technology company Anduril.
In a statement, the Pentagon’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency said the proposed sale would serve US interests by supporting Taiwan’s “continuing efforts to modernise its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability”.
New York Times News Service
