The U.S. announced $345 million in military aid for Taiwan, Friday, in what is the Biden administration’s first major package drawing on America’s own stockpiles to help Taiwan counter China.

The White House’s announcement said the package would include defense, education and training for the Taiwanese. Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADS, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters ahead of the announcement.

U.S. lawmakers have been pressuring the Pentagon and White House to speed weapons to Taiwan.

The goals are to help it counter China and to deter China from considering attacking, by providing Taipei enough weaponry that it would make the price of invasion too high.

While Chinese diplomats protested the move, Taiwan’s trade office in Washington said the U.S. decision to pull arms and other materiel from its stores provided “an important tool to support Taiwan’s self-defense.” In a statement, it pledged to work with the United States to maintain “peace, stability and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”

The package is in addition to nearly $19 billion in military sales of F-16s and other major weapons systems that the U.S. has approved for Taiwan. Delivery of those weapons has been hampered by supply chain issues that started during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been exacerbated by the global defense industrial base pressures created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The difference is that this aid is part of a presidential authority approved by Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles ― so Taiwan will not have to wait for military production and sales. This gets weapons delivered faster than providing funding for new weapons.

The Pentagon has used a similar authority to get billions of dollars worth of munitions to Ukraine.

Taiwan split from China in 1949 amid civil war. Chinese President Xi Jinping maintains China’s right to take over the now self-ruled island, by force if necessary. China has accused the U.S. of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg” through the billions of dollars in weapons sales it has pledged.

The U.S. maintains a “One China” policy under which it does not recognize Taiwan’s formal independence and has no formal diplomatic relations with the island in deference to Beijing. However, U.S. law requires a credible defense for Taiwan and for the U.S. to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”

Getting stockpiles of weapons to Taiwan now, before an attack begins, is one of the lessons the U.S. has learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pentagon deputy defense secretary Kathleen Hicks told The Associated Press earlier this year.

Ukraine “was more of a cold-start approach than the planned approach we have been working on for Taiwan, and we will apply those lessons,” Hicks said. Efforts to resupply Taiwan after a conflict erupted would be complicated because it is an island, she said.

China regularly sends warships and planes across the center line in the Taiwan Strait that provides a buffer between the sides, as well as into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, in an effort to intimidate the island’s 23 million people and wear down its military capabilities.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, said in a statement Friday that Beijing was “firmly opposed” to U.S. military ties with Taiwan. The U.S. should “stop selling arms to Taiwan” and “stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” Liu said. (AP)

    • Hogger85b@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      yep. I know couple hong kongers since mid 2000s that are so glad they escaped in early 2000s as despite promises in 1999, they knew mainland would force through. (I originally thought some of the racist people I knew was their approach to mainlanders, but last 10 years maybe they had a point)

    • MrSpArkle@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      For context we’ve been selling weapons to Taiwan for decades. The lip service we pay china on the subject is just kayfabe.

      • Nogami@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s nice that it’s out in the open now. Let’s China know it’s place and that everyone is tired of their shit.

        • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          It’s been out in the open for a long time. Taiwan has many naval ships that were ex-us Navy that were sold to it, in addition to fighter jets, missile systems etc.

          This is nothing new, just business as usual along with the usual China “final warning.”

          • Nogami@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            It’s also being made into a news item now instead of just a sale between nations. They’re definitely using this as a non subtle warning to China.

  • chk232@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    So that’s what, 2 plans and a dozen missiles?

    Jokes aside, US seriously need to do something about their entire budget going into military contractors pockets or they are going to lose the economic war.

  • ScottThePoolBoy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    America imports everything from China. Sells it to Americans. Collects sales tax. Sends money to Taiwan to fight China.

  • UmbrellAssassin@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Yay. Another tax hike. How about you fix America first before giving out all it’s money to situations that shouldn’t involve you.

    • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      These are weapons that were sitting in stockpiles and we’re never going to be used. We either give them away or we have to pay money to destroy them.

      Hell, the boneyard currently has something like 10,000 mothballed aircraft, including fighters, bombers, attack helicopters etc sitting in the desert waiting for the next war or to be disassembled.

      • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        But because we gave away the old weapons, now we have to go buy new ones to replace them!

        The Circle Of Life.

        • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          We already ate, that was already budgeted because the old weapons are obsolete.

          Have you even heard of the F-35?

          • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            $345 million won’t buy for a single F-35.

            And the aid package is ground based defense, manpads, and maybe f16s. Not the top of the line.

            All of the hardware aid we give needs to be restocked. That is how being prepared works.

    • Zuberi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      You do recognize this is the current ruling class protecting the rich’s access to cheap semiconductors right?

      Like, why would they “fix” what is obviously not broken in their eyes?

      • UmbrellAssassin@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        If you’re talking about the chip “shortage”, you know those mostly created in China right? Anyway that is completely not I was taking about.

          • UmbrellAssassin@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Most is really overexaggerating. But cool. Just only parrot the things you read online that align with what you want to believe.

            • actualhater@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Yeah, real free thinkers parrot ideas they came up with themselves! Tired of the stupid idiots on this site bringing their own “knowledge” and “insight” and “journalism” to the table. They’re all toxic and wrong!

        • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Most computer chips are not made in China. They are made in Taiwan. Not only that, but the United States also has a considerable semiconductor manufacturing capability.

          You may have heard of this small company called “Intel.” Or AMD. But perhaps not.

          https://www.industryselect.com/blog/top-10-semiconductor-manufacturers-in-the-us

          The chips act will also accelerate semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. It’s already had a pretty significant impact.

          https://www.semiconductors.org/the-chips-act-has-already-sparked-200-billion-in-private-investments-for-u-s-semiconductor-production/

          Anyway, it’s a little ironic for somebody posting on the internet to be complaining about “wealthy people and their semiconductors” when the semiconductor industry has been the largest democratizing force in human history. What do you think you’re typing on?

          • UmbrellAssassin@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            If you actually read, you’d see that I didn’t start the conversation talking about rich people or semi conductors. The only thing I said is that I’m tired of paying more taxes because all our social security money is being sent to other places as though we don’t need it.

            • actualhater@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              If you actually read the article you’d see that this money was already set aside in a previous tax cut

                • actualhater@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  The thing about moving goalposts online is that you can still see your original comment: “another tax hike”

                  Hmmm

    • gmtom@lemmy.world
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      I miss the days of lemmy before all thr low effort trolls and brain damaged chuds decided to inflict themselves upon us.

      • ZzyzxRoad@lemm.ee
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        Ok, so it really is getting worse. Thought maybe it was just me getting easily annoyed.

      • UmbrellAssassin@lemmy.world
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        I thought on average the people on here had a few more brain cells than other toxic ass places on the internet. Don’t know if it’s the reddit influx or people are just more likely to say how they really feel when other people parrot the same ridicules bullshit as them. Either way I’m pretty disappointed.