The United States announced it would sell munitions and military spare parts to Taiwan for $440 million, leading to a condemnation on Friday from China’s claim to the autonomous island.
This modest sale does not expand the spectrum of American arms supplied to Taiwan, but it comes at a time when Washington and Beijing are trying to stabilize their stormy relationship.
In a memorandum to Congress on Thursday, the US State Department announced the sale to Taiwan of 30mm gun ammunition for $332.2 million and spare parts for armaments and military vehicles for $108 million.
Those sales will help Taiwan “maintain a credible defense capability” but “do not alter the basic military balance in the region,” the State Department said.
The US Congress has the right to oppose this arms sale, but such a case is highly unlikely, while most lawmakers are urging the US to increase military support for Taiwan in the face of China.
“China’s firm opposition to US-Taiwan military ties and US arms sales to Taiwan is consistent and clear,” Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said on Friday.
“The United States must respect the principle of a China,” which theoretically prevents it from maintaining ties with the island, “and stop jeopardizing peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” she stressed during a regular press briefing.
China considers the island one of its provinces, which it has not successfully reunified with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. It does not exclude winning them back by force if necessary.
The United States has long sold arms to Taipei while diplomatically recognizing only Beijing.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid a rare visit to the Chinese capital in mid-June, during which both sides maintained their positions on Taiwan but hoped to maintain communications to prevent tensions escalating into an armed confrontation.