MILITARY
Biden approves its first arms sale to Taiwan
August 5, 2021 - The Biden administration has approved its first arms sale to Taiwan, a potential $750 million deal meant to improve Taiwan’s capability to blunt a Chinese land invasion.
The package includes 40 155mm M109A6 Medium Self-Propelled Howitzer Systems and almost 1,700 kits to convert projectiles into more precise GPS-guided munitions.
Taiwan’s defense ministry expressed “sincere gratitude” to the U.S. government in a statement on Thursday, saying the sales would help its ground forces increase their “capacity for speedy reaction and fire support”.
The new package follows high-profile sales to Taiwan approved in the last year of the Trump administration, including 66 new model F-16 Block 70 aircraft from Lockheed Martin Corp. and a potential $2.4 billion sale of Boeing Co. Harpoon antiship missiles for coastal defence.
Since 2010, the U.S. has announced more than $23 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.
Like most nations, the U.S. has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is required by law to provide the Chinese-claimed island with the means to defend itself and is its most important international backer, to Beijing's anger.
- First Taiwan Arms Sale in Biden Administration Is Approved (Bloomberg)
- U.S. approves potential sale of howitzers to Taiwan - Pentagon (Reuters)
- Biden administration approves its first arms sale to Taiwan (SCMP)
- Taiwan Arms Sales 1990-2020 (Defense Security Cooperation Agency)
- U.S. announces sale of self-propelled artillery to Taiwan (DW)