Taiwan’s Air Force has budgeted $14.15 million for the US to send Patriot missile experts to the island for weapons tests between 2019 and 2022. The program was revealed by a financial report released by Taiwan’s National Audit Office last week, The South China Morning Post reported on Monday.
Washington hasn’t had formal diplomatic relations with Taipei since 1979, but the US continues to arm the island. There were reports of US weapons experts traveling to Taiwan for tests, but nothing has been confirmed until now for fear of angering Beijing. The Post said the program was revealed unintentionally in the audit report.
Since 1997, the US has sold at least 400 Patriot missiles to Taiwan. Earlier this year, Taiwan said it will buy an advanced version of the Patriot defense missiles, known as the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement. The purchase will be part of a $620 million missile sale approved by the Trump administration last year.
Since Lockheed Martin is the contractor for the Patriot systems the US sells to Taiwan, China reacted to the $620 million deal by sanctioning the US weapons maker. The sale was just a fraction of Taiwan arms sales that were approved by the Trump administration last year. In 2020, the US moved forward $5.1 billion in arms sales for the island.
The US has also taken steps in recent years to boost diplomatic ties with Taiwan, angering Beijing. Both the Trump and Biden administrations loosened restrictions for US contacts with Taiwanese officials. The US is also keeping up military provocations in the Taiwan Strait. So far, the Biden administration has sailed warships through the sensitive waterway seven times, keeping up the transits at a monthly rate.
A very unstable message to China , America wants war
Don’t you know that Americans are not happy if they cannot fight Wars in evvery corner of this Planet ??
The article ignore the belligerence of the PLO towards Taiwan, the intrusions on her airspace, the plans to conquer Taiwan, and the extreme sea territory claims that China has made. The Patriot missiles are purely defensive in nature, pose no threat to China, and can barely begin to counter China’s ballistic missile threats.
How can China “conquer” Taiwan when it already is a part of China? Everyone agrees with fact, including Taiwan itself. Even the US officially recognizes Taiwan is China’s territory.
“there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China. …
The United States does not support Taiwan independence. ”
https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-taiwan/
There is defacto and dejure.Taiwan has a separate government, not beholden nor subject to China-2 separate. countries. Considering the numerous human rights violations and totalitarian practices of China,I rather doubt that Taiwanese which to be absorbed into China. If WW3 erupts over Taiwan, no doubt the libs will blame the US. Marxist loose.
PLO ??? Palestine Liberation Organisation in China??
Did I not tell you that your HASBARA needs improving ?
It is your tude that created Zionism
You can fool yourself,you can play cute, but I know exactly what you are.Never Again
For Heavens sake Jake it’s all part if the plan that’s been going on for decades, containing “communism”. That policy gave us the Korean War, the Vietnam war, and the spread of the US military machine all over the globe. The problem Korea was a stalemate and Vietnam was a looser. We are lousy at containing even much weaker nations so what makes us think we can contain China. We’re nuts China is an industrial giant and will fight back with whatever weaponry the US chooses to use including nukes. We have to get rid of the idiots that think war is even an option, let’s stop fooling ourselves.
China’s oceanic claims impinge on Vietnam, the Phillipines, and a re grossly expansionist.not all th evil in the world comes from the US.
So considering how dangerous China is, we should not sell Patriots to Taiwan, which are purely defensive weapons, and facilitate the great gobble gobble.