United States approves $567 million in Taiwan defense aid

Washington DC/ Taipei/United States President Joe Biden has approved $567 million in aid to improve Taiwan’s defense capabilities amid escalating tensions between Taipei and Beijing, official sources said.

According to a White House statement, Biden authorized Secretary of State Antony Blinken to transfer “up to $567 million in defense items and services from the Department of Defense, as well as military training and education, to provide assistance to Taiwan. .”

The statement, released this Sunday, did not provide further details on the type of articles or services provided in this aid.

Last April, the US president signed into law a law that increased foreign aid to Taiwan and other Pacific allies, which included $2 billion in foreign military funding and $1.9 billion in PDAs (“presidential drawdown authority”). a measure by which Washington can remove material from its own arsenals to ship directly to the island.

Taiwan’s government, currently led by sovereign William Lai, has repeatedly expressed its displeasure over delays in the delivery of US arms.

Taiwan’s government, currently led by Sovereign William Lai, has repeatedly expressed its displeasure over delays in the delivery of US arms.

According to estimates by the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank, the value of weapons yet to arrive in Taiwan is US$20.53 billion, including 66 F-16 fighter jets, 108 Abrams tanks and 100 systems. of Harpoon missiles acquired during the administration of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021).

Taiwan’s military remains on “high alert” after detecting “multiple waves” of missile launches in several areas of China on Sunday, amid tensions between Taipei and Beijing, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MDN) said.

In a statement released Sunday night, MDN said that as of 6:50 a.m. that day had detected “multiple waves of missile launches” carried out by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Missile Force and other “long-range. artillery ranges’ in the regions of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang, located in northern and western China.

In recent years, the Chinese military has sought to strengthen this Force, which controls the country’s strategic nuclear and conventional missiles, as part of a campaign to ensure that “all combat wings can operate together.”

“The Armed Forces have used joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance methods to closely monitor related activities, while air defense units remain on high alert and have strengthened their defense preparations,” Taiwan’s defense ministry said.

The military portfolio stressed that the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific “is vital to global development” and that any “provocative action” that poses a threat “will seriously damage regional stability”.

“In the face of serious threats from the enemy, the Army will continue to uphold the principle of ‘preparing for war without seeking war’ and ‘responding to war without avoiding it’,” strengthening self-defense capabilities and adapting to changes and developments. in the state of the enemy,” the official text reads.

The moves come days after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, the first time in more than four decades that Beijing has made such a test public.

“In the face of serious threats from the enemy, the Army will continue to uphold the principle of ‘preparing for war without seeking war’.”

The Armed Forces of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) maintain constant control over Chinese activities around the island, but rarely report actions taken by the Chinese military on the mainland.

Taiwan – where the Chinese Nationalist army retreated after defeat by Communist troops in the civil war (1927-1949) – has been governed autonomously since the end of the war, although China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a revolutionary province for the “reunification” of which he has not ruled out the use of force.

The Taiwan issue is one of the main points of friction between Beijing and Washington, since the United States is Taipei’s main arms supplier and could defend the island in the event of a conflict.

Since Lai took office last May, China has stepped up its military pressure on Taiwan, whose government has proposed increasing its defense budget to a “historic high” of 647 billion Taiwan dollars (about $20.478 billion ) until 2025.