On Friday, the State Department approved two potential arms deals for Taiwan worth about $2 billion, drawing a sharp rebuke from China.
The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said one deal is for three National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) and related equipment and has an estimated cost of $1.16 billion. The other deal is for radar systems and is worth about $828 million.
The approval of the arms sales begins a period when Congress could potentially block the deals. But the sales are not expected to face any opposition since there is strong bipartisan support for arming Taiwan.
In response to the approval of the arms sales, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that China “strongly condemns and firmly opposes it, and has lodged solemn representations with the US” and warned Beijing will “take all necessary measures to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.”
The new deals come as tensions are soaring between the US and China over Taiwan. Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, have repeatedly warned their US counterparts that the island is the “first red line” in US-China relations that must not be crossed, but the Biden administration continues to ignore Beijing’s concerns.
The US has always sold weapons to Taiwan since Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 as part of a normalization deal with China. Last year, the US started providing US-funded military aid, marking a significant escalation in US support for the island. In September, President Biden approved a $567 million arms package for Taiwan using the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows him to ship weapons straight from US military stockpiles.