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.

The eight arms sales agreements announced on Wednesday cover 82 high-mobility artillery rocket systems, or Himars, and 420 army tactical missile systems, or Atacms – similar to those the US had been sending to Ukraine during the Biden administration to defend itself from Russia – worth more than $4bn. 

They also include 60 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4bn, as well as drones valued at more than $1bn.

Other sales in the package include military software valued at more than $1bn, Javelin and Tow missiles worth more than $700m, helicopter spare parts worth $96m and refurbishment kits for Harpoon missiles worth $91m.

In separate but nearly identical statements, the state department said the sales serve “US national, economic and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernise its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.” 

“The proposed sale(s) will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region,” the statements said.

China’s foreign ministry attacked the move, saying it would violate diplomatic agreements between Beijing and Washington, undermine regional stability, and gravely harm China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.

“The ‘Taiwan independence’ forces on the island seek independence through force and resist reunification through force, squandering the hard-earned money of the people to purchase weapons at the cost of turning Taiwan into a powder keg,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.

“This cannot save the doomed fate of ‘Taiwan independence’ but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The US support for ‘Taiwan Independence’ through arms will only end up backfiring. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed,” he added.

Under federal law, the US is obliged to assist Taiwan with its self-defence, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China, which has vowed to take Taiwan by force, if necessary. Trump has previously suggested Taiwan should pay the US for “protection”.

Officials in Washington and Taipei have worked to accelerate the approval for weapon sales to Taiwan since intense Chinese military drills surrounded the island in 2022. But the push towards greater weapons sales has been impeded by Trump’s erratic stance on Taiwan.

In a statement on Thursday, Taiwan’s defence ministry expressed gratitude to the US over the arms sale, which it said would help the island maintain “sufficient self-defence capabilities” and bring strong deterrent capabilities. Taiwan’s bolstering of its defence “is the foundation for maintaining regional peace and stability,” the ministry said.

Taiwan’s foreign minister Lin Chia-lung similarly thanked the US for its “long-term support for regional security and Taiwan’s self-defence capabilities,” which he said are key for deterring a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the body of water separating Taiwan from China’s mainland.

The arms sales comes as Taiwan’s government has pledged to raise defence spending to 3.3% of the island’s gross domestic product next year and 5% by 2030. 

The boost came after Trump and the Pentagon requested that Taiwan spend as much as 10% of its GDP on its defence, a percentage well above what the US or any of its major allies spend on defence. The demand has faced pushback from Taiwan’s opposition KMT party and some of its population.

Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te last month announced a special $40bn budget for arms purchases, including an air defence system with high-level detection and interception capabilities called Taiwan Dome. The budget will be allocated over eight years, from 2026 to 2033.

But Lai is struggling to get his budget, including the military spending plan, passed in the legislature. Earlier this month opposition lawmakers blocked a bill authorising the defence budget to fund major weapons procurement and joint development programs with the US.

— The Guardian