Angry China demands US cancel $1.1 bn weapons sale to Taiwan; warns of ‘counter-measures’
After the Biden administration announced arms sales to Taiwan as US-China tensions escalate, China asked the US to cancel the deal at the earliest.
Hours after the Biden administration announced arms sales to Taiwan amid escalating US-China tensions over Taiwan, Beijing warned Washington against the deal, The Spectator Index reported. According to reports, China said that it “will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures” if the US goes ahead with the arms deal.
The major development came after the US State Department, on Friday, announced a $1.09 billion arms deal with the island nation. The deal included $355 million for Harpoon air-to-sea missiles and $85 million for Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. Besides, the deal also included a logistics support package for Taiwan’s surveillance radar program as China repeatedly desecrated Taiwan’s airspace.
According to the Department, the equipment is necessary for Taiwan to “maintain a sufficient self-defence 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, on a regular basis, has been conducting military drills near the Taiwanese border– possibly the largest war games ever since both countries split in 1948. This resulted in Taipei increasing its defence budget by nearly 15% for 2023.
US arms sales gravely violate the one-China principle, says China
Earlier, amid reports of the US planning an arms deal with Taiwan, the Chinese Embassy in Washington asked the administration to stop selling weapons immediately. 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”.
US sends its warship to Taiwan
Earlier on Sunday, in a first amid the military standoff in the Taiwan Strait, the Biden administration sent 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.
