Just hours after the Biden administration announced arms sales to Taiwan during the escalating US-China tensions over Taiwan, Beijing warned Washington against the deal, The Spectator Index reported. According to the report, China threatened that it “will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures” if the US goes ahead with the arms deal.
This comes after the US State Department on Friday, announced a $1.09 billion arms deal with Taiwan. The deal included $355 million for Harpoon air-to-sea missiles and $85 million for Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The 10-figure deal also included a logistics support package for Taiwan’s surveillance radar program as China ravaged Taiwan’s airspace.
According to the US State Department, the equipment is necessary for Taiwan to “maintain a sufficient self-defense capability” and added the deal complies with the US one-China policy. The development came as China and Taiwan engaged in indirect confrontation ever since US Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island nation this month. Beijing regularly carries out military exercises near the Taiwanese border, perhaps the largest war games since the split of the two countries in 1948. These war games resulted in Taipei increasing its defense budget by nearly 15% since 2023.
Amid reports Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said the trade will further escalate tension between Taipei and Beijing. “The US side needs to immediately stop arms sales to and military contact with Taiwan, stop creating factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and follow through on the US government statement of not supporting ‘Taiwan independence,'” Sputnik quoted Pengyu as saying. According to the spokesperson, US arms sales to Taiwan gravely violate the one-China principle and “Beijing will continue to take resolute and strong measures to firmly defend Chinese sovereignty and security interests”.
Earlier Sunday, in the midst of the military confrontation in the Taiwan Strait, the Biden administration dispatched its warships to the island nation. According to the statement released by the US 7th Fleet, the guided-missile cruisers (USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville) were conducting a routine transit. The cruisers transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State, it added. However, China asserted that it has already put its armed forces on alert and its forces were prepared to defeat any provocations.
