USA president Barak Obama has authorised the sale of weapons to Taiwan.
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The deal adds to the strained ties between China and the US, including a dispute over the islands Beijing created in the South China Sea to give it greater military power in the Pacific, control over potential energy reserves and rich fish stocks in the region.
The White House on Monday said that Obama spoke by telephone on Sunday night with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to express his appreciation for the important role China played in securing a historic climate agreement in Paris on Saturday last week.
The announcement drew strong condemnation from China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province.
A spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council said the authorization followed previous sales notifications by the administration totaling over $12 billion under the Taiwan Relations Act.
The United States recognises China rather than Taiwan, but remains a main ally and leading arms supplier to the island, providing a source of continued tension with Beijing.
On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei urged the US to stop the arms sale, as it would interfere in China’s domestic affairs and harm China-US relations.
Under the new deal, the Pentagon will provide the Taiwanese military forces with two frigates, anti-tank missiles, amphibious assault vehicles and other equipment.
The current weapons package had “little offensive power”, the US Naval Institute said on Wednesday, noting it did not include any support for Taiwan’s submarine program or next-generation fighter development.
The lack of Washington arms deals with Taipei in recent years – one of the few countries willing to sell weapons against mainland China’s wishes – has been a subject of bilateral criticism for some in Congress. “Taiwan’s military will continue to be under-resourced and unable to make the investments necessary to maintain a credible deterrent across the strait, especially as its limited defense resources are increasingly constrained by growing military personnel costs”.
The island’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which has a wide lead in public opinion polls ahead of the January 16 election, welcomed the US support and said it would increase defense spending if it should win.
“The Chinese can react to this as they see fit”, he said.
But State Department spokesman John Kirby said the sale was nothing new for U.S. policy, with precedent going all the way back to the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
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China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has said the sale, which was expected, should be canceled to avoid harming its relations across the Taiwan Strait and between China and the U.S.
