He said it included two Perry-class guided-missile frigates; $57 million of Javelin anti-tank missiles made by Raytheon(RTN.N) and Lockheed Martin(LMT.N); $268 million of TOW 2B anti-tank missiles and $217 million of Stinger surface-to-air missiles made by Raytheon, and $375 million of AAV-7 Amphibious Assault Vehicles.
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The US Congress has 30 days to raise any objections to the sale, otherwise it is considered approved.
David McKeeby, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said the package was aimed at “supporting Taiwan’s attempts to develop more advanced and asymmetric defensive abilities”.
“The Chinese side firmly opposes any arms sale from the U.S.to Taiwan”, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei in a press briefing in Beijing. “China strongly opposes the US arms sale to Taiwan”.
Washington angered Beijing in October when a United States warship sailed close to artificial islets that China is building out into military bases in the South China Sea.
The U.S. arms sales to Taiwan blatantly violate the three joint communiques signed by China and the U.S., especially the one signed on August 17, 1982, under which the U.S. agrees to gradually reduce and eventually stop its shipment of weapons to Taiwan. She said the arms package doesn’t contain any advanced weapons, and China has also come to value the military exchanges with the U.S more than in the past.
Beijing expressed anger finally yr’s invoice, although arms sales to date to Taiwan haven’t brought on lasting injury to Beijing’s relations with both Washington or Taipei.
“The U.S. obligation to provide Taiwan with the weapons it requires for self-defense should not be subject to political considerations, including undue concern about offending sensitives in Beijing”, said Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee and co-chairman of the Congressional China Caucus.
The sale will “help maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and increase our confidence as we engage in dialogue and improves relations across the Taiwan Strait”, the ministry said in a statement.
Since then, the relations between China and Taiwan have been characterized by limited contact, tensions, and instability.
The move did not need to have a negative effect on US-Chinese relations, he said, adding:”We still want to work to establish a better, more transparent, more effective relationship with China in the region”. It did not seriously impair ties.
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Taiwan needs more defense technology from overseas and diesel submarines, President Ma Ying-jeou told a gathering at the Center for Strategic and International Studies a year ago, while a 2006 request for the submarines and new F-16 C/D fighters remains unfulfilled.
