US announces more than $10bn of arms sales to Taiwan

Package includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, and has drawn an angry response from China

President Donald Trump speaks during an address to the nation at the White House. Picture: Doug Mills/AP

The Trump administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10bn that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China.

The state department announced the sales late on Wednesday during a nationally televised address by president Donald Trump, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak about China or Taiwan at all. US-Chinese tensions have ebbed and flowed during Trump’s second term, largely over trade and tariffs but also over China’s increasing aggressiveness toward Taiwan, which Beijing has said must unify with the People’s Republic of China.