The U.S. State Department has approved on Tuesday the potential sale of $428 million in aircraft parts for Taiwan to help its air force, which is strained from repeatedly intercepting Chinese jets operating close to the island.
The Biden administration signed off on two new significant arms sales deals for selling spare aircraft parts to support Taiwan’s fleet of F-16 fighters, C-130 transport planes and other U.S.-supplied weapons systems.
The package includes $330 million in standard replacement parts and $98 million in nonstandard equipment along with related accessories and logistics.
The sales were announced just weeks after President Joe Biden met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for talks in Indonesia in which China’s increasingly aggressive behavior toward Taiwan was a major issue.
China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has vowed to reunify the island with the mainland by force, if necessary. It has roundly condemned previous U.S. arms sales to Taiwan as violations of Washington’s “One China” policy and is expected to react similarly to Tuesday’s announcement.
But successive U.S. administrations of both parties have said ties with Taiwan are governed by the Taiwan Relations Act that allows the sale of military equipment to the island for its defense against potential threats from China.
“This proposed sale serves U.S. national, economic and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to maintain a credible defensive capability,” the State Department said of the latest approvals.
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