The United States unveiled a Taiwan weapons aid package worth up to $345 million on Friday, a move likely to anger China even as the Biden administration declined to publicly provide details on the arms in the package.
Congress authorized up to $1 billion worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority weapons aid for Taiwan, which strongly rejects Chinese sovereignty claims, in the 2023 budget. Beijing has repeatedly demanded the United States, Taiwan's most important arms supplier, halt the sale of weapons to the island.
In recent weeks, four sources told Reuters the package was expected to include four unarmed MQ-9A reconnaissance drones, but noted their inclusion could fall through as officials work through details on removing some of the advanced equipment from the drones that only the U.S. Air Force is allowed access to.
The formal announcement did not include a list of weapon systems being provided.
"We appreciate the U.S.'s strong commitment to Taiwan’s security and will continue to work with the U.S. closely to maintain peace, stability and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait," the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office said in a statement.
Among the issues that could confound the inclusion of the drones was who would pay for their alterations, one of the people briefed on the matter said previously. Reuters could not determine if the drones were still part of the package.
Taiwan had previously agreed to purchase four, more advanced, MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, made by General Atomics, which are slated for delivery in 2025.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory and has increased military pressure on the island over the past three years. It has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan says only Taiwanese people can decide their future.
Foreshadowing the upcoming aid, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on May 16 told a Senate panel: "I'm pleased that the United States will soon provide significant additional security assistance to Taiwan through the Presidential Drawdown Authority that Congress authorized last year."
Earlier this month, the top U.S. general said the United States and its allies need to speed up the delivery of weapons to Taiwan in the coming years to help the island defend itself.
The Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) has been used on an emergency basis to expedite security assistance to Ukraine by allowing the president to transfer articles and services from U.S. stockpiles. The Taiwan PDA, however, is a non-emergency authority approved by Congress last year.
© Thomson Reuters 2023.
46 Comments
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TaiwanIsNotChina
An excellent move securing the region from Chinese bullying.
Fredrik
"Aid package" would imply this is a gift from U.S.? No?
UChosePoorly
Porcupine Strategy
https://epicenter.wcfia.harvard.edu/blog/protecting-porcupine-why-taiwan-matters
RichardPearce
Number 1 export of America, propaganda.
Number 2 export of America, weapons of war.
Number 3 export of America, license to wage war to benefit America.
Number 4 export of America, broken promises.
Which one this will turn out to be, time will tell, even if White Bloc media won't.
deanzaZZR
Giving hundreds of millions of dollars to an entity you do not even recognize as a country. There's the USA's rules based international order for you, folks.
Wick's pencil
Great, after years of throwing gasoline on the Ukraine fire, they're now getting ready to start another one in Taiwan.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Guess we are doing the right thing, then, as the dictatorship bloc is also a leading manufacturer.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Everyone knows the one china policy was just to get the baby in Peking to shut up and almost every country in the world made the same deal.
TaiwanIsNotChina
It will be China that starts something. If the US wanted to start something it had 75 years to do so.
deanzaZZR
@Xavier If China was sending hundreds of millions of dollars to Hawaiian separatists I'm sure you would be angry as well.
Actually Hawaii has a stronger claim to independence as before the British and Americans arrived it was wholly Polynesian.
Mocheake
Let them get angry. Blow smoke all day if they want. Lots of China supporters on this site. Must be commies. Side with democracy!
TaiwanIsNotChina
If the US government had zero control over Hawaii, we would be forced to acknowledge at some point that it will never happen. As it is Hawaii is 90% non-native so that is not a risk. And we aren't going back to the 19th century unless you want to revisit all of China's western holdings.
itsonlyrocknroll
Taiwan strait is an essential global shipping lane.
The Government of China is aggressively claiming the nine dash line is illegally legitimate sole Chinese territorial waters/seas.
The Government of China will seize/invade Taiwan if the dictatorship senses any weakness or appeasement.
The US government has stepped up to protect Taiwan, as they did to protect Europe in there darkest hour.
MichaelBukakis
What most people don’t know is that the 3 Gorges dam is the Achilles heel of China.
All Taiwan needs to do is target that dam and China is done, finished. So the threat alone of having short range missiles , cruise missiles , hypersonic missiles, pointed at it, and saying, “if we are attacked we will retaliate with all means necessary” should be enough to guarantee their security.
Madverts
Xavier,
"Everything angers China. Even Winnie the Pooh and blank pieces of paper. "
This, this and this.
Christopher Mas Osan
Release the full 1 Billion and supply Taiwan with all they need. This is where the real war is.
Dumbed down Reapers? Give Taiwan the tech they need. Reaper drones are old tech for the US now. Though effective as we saw Obamas weapon of choice. Taiwan deserves it all. Time to push back on the Chinease and let "em" who is boss in the APAC. Hold the line.
Peter14
China can blame its own huge military buildup aimed at taking Taiwan, for Taiwan feeling the need for additional weapons for its defense. The US is not to blame for Chinese ambitions of expanding its empire. Yet China continues to try to deflect the issue and make it all America's fault. The well educated know that it is China's fault, not Taiwan's or America's.
Every few generations, those come along who desire to make a name for themselves and create an empire against the will of others. Humanity never quite learns from past horrific conflicts and those with the desire to conquer others should be kept from positions of power. XI was a chameleon until he reached the top then began weeding out opposition.
Putin never allowed others to oppose him either.
Humanity will again face the furnace of war on a global scale unless Autocrats can be convinced it is in their personal interests to avoid war at all costs. Standing strong and united is the best form of dissuasion for the free world.
Legrande
China had an economy based on agriculture but was encouraged to open up and develop their economy.
When Deng Xiaoping decided to do so, western nations clambered and jockeyed to encourage further development.
Now China has succeeded western nations have decided to label China a threat in a replay of what happened in the 1980s to Japan.
BertieWooster
Xavier:
“a united free world”
United?
Free?
You must be using strange and unusual definitions of these words that I don't know.
OssanAmerica
Dead wrong. In the 80s Japan was strictly an economic rival. China in the 2000s is not just an economic rival but a political, ideological and military adversary. Don't kid yourself.
AlternativeOpinion
There is a day of reckoning coming for the autocrats. No PMC going to keep you safe.
Paul
Should be $345 billion if they want to deter China!
Mark
The war industrial complex is well and alive.
Legrande
@Ossan
The US starting with Trump made an about face on its One China policy to deliberately problematize China and make them more than an economic rival.
[When governments permit counterfeiting or copying of American products, it is stealing our future, and it is no longer free trade.” So said US President Ronald Reagan, commenting on Japan after the Plaza Accord was concluded in September 1985.
Today resembles, in many respects, a remake of this 1980s movie, but with a reality-television star replacing a Hollywood film star in the presidential leading role – and with a new villain in place of Japan.]
TaiwanIsNotChina
As a free and independent Taiwan, yes.
nukkuheddo
The one China policy was stupid to start with. It was foolishly believed that by bringing main-land China into the global family it might "normalize" China...instead we got Frankenstein...with nuclear weapons and a sort of 18th-19th century European Imperialist attitude...
We didn't have a one Germany policy until the Berlin Wall fell...we don't have a one Korea policy...why should we adhere to the illusion of a one China policy?...
Main-land China steps on all their neighboring countries...fabricates ways to Shylock poor countries globally to hand-over their pound of flesh....
Frankenstein indeed.
travelbangaijin
This is more than enough money to take care of America homeless problems but the USA rather spend that money on a scenario they know from their own models they cannot win against China
deanzaZZR
The Nationalists destroyed the dikes on the Yellow River to slow down advancing Japanese troops killing tens of thousands of fellow Chinese due to the flood as well as causing wide-spread famine killing many more so there's precedent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Yellow_River_flood
TaiwanIsNotChina
1) The US doesn't have to win. It just needs to make it significantly expensive for China.
2) It's roughly $500 per homeless person. Not even enough to get them an apartment for one month.
TaiwanIsNotChina
By all accounts a success strategically so you better know not to mess with the ROC.
deanzaZZR
"However, the flood came at human cost, economic damages and environmental impact: in the immediate aftermath, 30,000 to 89,000 civilians drowned in Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces,[11][12][13] while a total of 400,000 to 500,000 civilians died from drowning, famine and plague."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Yellow_River_flood
ArtistAtLarge
I love that there is a company called General Atomics.
What a cool name.
EFD
Give the Taiwanese about 100 100 KT yield warheads on mobile systems and the Chinese will never talk if reunifying by force again.
Peter14
Lets just say it like it is. There are two China's and have been since 1949. Very simple and honest. Two nations run completely independently of each other. Just Like America and Canada. Look the same, sound the same (almost) and come from the same base stock and are neighbors.
Stop the lie that there is only one China, there are Two. People's Republic of China(PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). That is a fact.
theFu
Let's be clear. Certain exports require Govt approval. Weapons are commonly under that requirement for approval, but in no way is the US govt manufacturing or giving weapons. There are US companies actually building the weapons that are under these export controls. The USGovt doesn't make any money. The companies do.
The USGovt isn't spending any money on this. It has ZERO impact on budgets.
deanzaZZR
@Peter14 You need to alert your leaders in Canberra who recognize the PRC as the one and only government of China.
Peter14
deanzaZZRToday 02:41 pm JST
They do so to continue to get trade dollars from the mainland. The fact is they also believe Taiwan is independent and has the right to stay that way. Lip service to Chinese wishes keeps the cash flow flowing. I am not as gullible as some who may think anyone actually believes there is one China and it includes Taiwan. It does not.
deanzaZZR
Give it time. China has plenty of time. Here's your Chinese lesson for today. 話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分。
I suggest all you China hawks study Chinese. Even better, learn Chinese and visit the Mainland and Taiwan.
Hate is much easier in the abstraction.
theFu
I've been to the mainland. Most of the normal people are nice enough. There are some bad people, lots of greedy people and some good people, just like everywhere else in the world. It is just the ruthless CCP govt that tops my dislike of China. OTOH, Taiwan is a very nice place when the break-away western province controlled by the CCP isn't behaving badly. Taiwan constantly ranks near the top of the Freedom Index and Western Taiwan ranks near the bottom. This proves to me that Taiwan is the true current culture of all Chinese in the world that the people on the mainland should strive to achieve.
When was the last time Taiwan was accused of bullying or using political pressure to prevent other countries access to markets?
John
US is continuously provoking war between other countries as they have succeeded to start war between Ukraine and Russia. Now it is the poor Taiwan’s turn against China.