The Trump administration is planning a major arms sale to Taiwan that could include up to seven types of weapons systems, according to a report from Reuters. The deal would include cruise missiles, drones, and mines.
US arms sales to Taiwan have been a common occurrence since the diplomatic shift in 1979 when the US broke diplomatic ties with Taipei. The sales have always angered Beijing, who view the island as Chinese territory, making Taiwan one of the most sensitive issues in US-China relations.
But the sales are usually smaller and more spread out. Selling seven weapons system at once is a shift in US policy, which is not surprising given the Trump administration’s increasingly hostile rhetoric and actions towards China.
Sources told Reuters that the weapons packages from Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and General Atomics are moving through the export process, and Congress is expected to be notified sometime in the next few weeks. Another source said President Trump is expected to be briefed on the matter by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week.
The weapons package would follow a pattern of the Trump administration strengthening ties with Taiwan. In August, US Secretary of Health Alex Azar visited the island, making him the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan since 1979.
Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach is expected to travel to Taiwan for a memorial service honoring former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui this Saturday. The US military has also been more active in the region, with increased Navy drills in the South China Sea and increased US military aircraft flights.
time for China to take back the island
More money for the arms cartel.
“One industry source said President Donald Trump was slated to be briefed on the packages this week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.”
We’ll see if the Don remembers this:
Trump said leaders at the Pentagon “want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.”
Probably not. It did happen several days ago and he was probably in a room where saying that was what those particular people in that particular room wanted to hear.
It is a serious mistake to assume that China cannot be provoked to attack Taiwan. The same mistake was made when China intervened in the Korean War.
There is another article in Antiwar that describes U.S. Marines simulating stopping and taking over ships from other sovereign nations, in the South China Sea.
So Just wondering when the Chinese are going to Visit Venezuela and offer weapons or a New Chinese Naval and Airforce base in Venezuela, then the Chinese can offer the Venezuelans Freedom of navigation patrols in the Caribbean, from those Imperialist US navy types, that seize ships in International Waters. Would also be a great place to put Chinese Missiles as well! Remember the last time the US had a problem like this, it was because the US started the escalation by putting Nuclear Missiles in Turkey on the Russian Borders, the US should realize that China could actually play the same game. Would China win….. not likely, but then again the glowing slag heaps in the US would make sure that neither would the US. This is US hegemony an attempt at Gunboat diplomacy but also it shows the US stupidity, their original premise for going into the South China sea was so that Ships had free passage through the region……… NOW they want to SEIZE ships going through the region! That they seized ships or asked for ships to be seized in International Waters or International Shipping routes, means that they set the precedent that other nations can seize vessels, other nations LIKE China or Iran! The US is playing the dangerous game here, in the old days they called it poking the bear, today are they poking the Panda, a cute little animal, but an animal that China fiercely protects!