The State Department announced a $10 billion arms sales package to Taiwan, angering China

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones, drawing an angry response from China.

The State Department announced the sales late Wednesday during a nationally televised address by the Republican president, who made little mention of foreign policy issues and did not talk about China or Taiwan. Tensions between the United States and China have ebbed and ebbed during Trump’s second term, largely over trade and tariffs, but also because of China’s increasing aggressiveness toward Taiwan, which Beijing has said should unite with the mainland.

Read more: Taiwan allocates $40 billion for American weapons and the construction of an air defense “dome”.

If approved by Congress, it would be the largest US arms package ever for Taiwan, surpassing the total amount of US arms sales to Taiwan of $8.4 billion during the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden.

The eight arms sales agreements announced Wednesday cover 82 High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems, or HIMARS, and 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS — similar to what the United States was providing to Ukraine during the Biden administration to defend itself from Russia — worth more than $4 billion. It also includes 60 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4 billion and drones worth more than $1 billion.

Other sales in the package include military software worth more than $1 billion, Javelin and TOW missiles worth more than $700 million, helicopter parts worth $96 million, and Harpoon missile refurbishment kits worth $91 million.

The value of the eight sales agreements amounts to $11.15 billion, according to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense.

The State Department said the sales serve “the national, economic, and security interests of the United States by supporting the recipient nation’s ongoing efforts to modernize its armed forces and maintain a reliable defense capability.”

“The proposed sale(s) will help improve the security of the recipient and help maintain political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region,” the statement read.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry attacked the move, saying it violated diplomatic agreements between China and the United States. Seriously harming China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity; And undermine regional stability.

“The ‘Taiwan independence’ forces on the island seek independence through force and resist reunification through force, squandering the people’s hard-earned money to buy weapons at the expense of turning Taiwan into a powder keg,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiaqun said.

He added: “This cannot save the ill-fated fate of ‘Taiwan independence’, but it will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait towards a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The United States supporting ‘Taiwan independence’ with weapons will only be counterproductive. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed.”

Under federal law, the United States is obligated to help Taiwan defend itself, a point that has become increasingly controversial with China, which has vowed to seize Taiwan by force, if necessary.

He watches: Is defending Taiwan a vital interest of the United States? Experts offer different viewpoints

In a statement on Thursday, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense expressed its gratitude to the United States over the arms sales, which it said would help Taiwan maintain “adequate self-defense capabilities” and provide strong deterrence capabilities. The ministry said that Taiwan’s strengthening of its defense “is the basis for maintaining regional peace and stability.”

Likewise, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung thanked the United States for its “longstanding support for regional security and Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” which he described as key to deterring any conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the body of water that separates Taiwan from mainland China.

The arms sales come as Taiwan’s government pledged to raise defense spending to 3.3% of the island’s GDP next year and reach 5% by 2030. The increase came after Trump and the Pentagon asked Taiwan to spend up to 10% of its GDP on its defense, a much higher percentage than the United States or any of its key allies spend on defense. This request faced opposition from the opposition Kuomintang Party in Taiwan and some of its residents.

Last month, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te announced a special $40 billion budget for weapons purchases, including the construction of an air defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities called the “Taiwan Dome.” The budget will be allocated over eight years, from 2026 to 2033.

The US increase in military aid to Taiwan has been laid out in legislation approved by Congress and which Trump is expected to sign soon.

Last week, the Chinese embassy in Washington denounced the legislation known as the National Defense Authorization Act, saying it unfairly targets China as an aggressor. The US Senate approved the bill on Wednesday.

Maestrino reported from Beijing. AP video journalists Olivia Chang in Beijing and Johnson Lai in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.