The US approved new arms sales for Taiwan on Friday, a day before Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te arrived in Hawaii for a two-day visit as part of a tour of the region.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the Biden administration approved two potential arms deals for Taiwan. One is for spare parts and support for the island’s fleet of US-made F-16 fighter jets that’s worth $320 million.
The other sale is for supporting and maintaining a military communication system, known as the Improved Mobile Subscriber Equipment, and is worth $65 million.
The approval of the sales comes as China has been stepping up its warnings to the US that Taiwan is a major red line. In a statement on the new arms deals, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it sent the “wrong signal” to Taiwanese independence forces and vowed there would be a response.
“China will closely follow the developments and take resolute and strong measures to defend our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the ministry said.
China also strongly opposed any official contact between Taiwan and the US and slammed President Lai’s visit to Hawaii. He stopped in the US state while on a trip to Pacific island nations that, unlike the US, have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
“Let me reiterate that China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and the Taiwan region, firmly opposes any visit by the leader of the Taiwan authorities to the US in any name or under whatever pretext, and firmly opposes any form of US connivance and support for ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists and their separatist activities,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday.
Mao also pointed to recent talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Biden, in which the Chinese leader reiterated that Taiwan is a major red line. “President Xi Jinping stressed that the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués are the political foundation of China-US relations and they must be observed,” she said.
