The US has quietly released $870 million in funding for military aid to Taiwan after it was briefly paused during the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid.
Reuters first reported on February 21 that the US released the military aid for Taiwan as part of $5.3 billion in exemptions from the foreign aid pause. China, which strongly opposes US military support for Taiwan, reacted to the news on February 26.
“We are deeply concerned over relevant reports,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian. “China has all along opposed US military assistance to China’s Taiwan region, which has severely violated the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, undermined China’s sovereignty and security interests, and sent a gravely wrong signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”
Lin added that China urges the US to “stop arming Taiwan and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
The US has always sold weapons to Taiwan since Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei as part of a normalization agreement with Beijing in 1979, but it wasn’t until 2023 that the US began providing US-funded military aid, a step that marked a significant escalation. In 2024, President Biden signed off on more than $1 billion in military aid for Taiwan.
The US military support is done in the name of deterrence, but it has only escalated tensions in the region. During a press conference on February 27, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian issued a strong warning against US involvement in Taiwan, which has been encouraged by the island’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
“The Taiwan question is an internal affair of China, which brooks no external interference. The US side wants to contain China with Taiwan and connives at risky and provocative activities of the DPP authorities for ‘Taiwan independence.’ This strategy will ultimately backfire,” Wu said.
“The DPP authorities have an illusion of ‘soliciting US support for independence’ and ‘resisting unification by force.’ It is a serious miscalculation of the situation, the public opinion, and the comparison of strength. Overreaching itself in such a way is extremely dangerous,” Wu added. ” We warn the DPP authorities that holding back the tide with a broom will only end up in self-destruction. We will come and get you, sooner or later.”
President Trump recently declined to say whether or not the US would defend Taiwan if China attacked the island, reverting the US back to a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the issue, which was abandoned by President Biden. While Trump has a less bellicose tone toward China, the resumption of US military aid to Taiwan signals that the Trump administration will continue policies toward Taipei that Beijing views as very provocative.
