The United States plans to sell arms worth $1.42 billion (Rs 91.86 billion) to Taiwan, a move certain to anger China, whose help Trump has been seeking to counter North Korea, Reuters reported on Friday. The US also imposed sanctions against a Chinese bank, the Bank of Dangdong, which it claims is linked to North Korea, reported The Guardian.
The US accused Bank of Dangdong of acting as “a conduit for illicit North Korean financial activity”. Two Chinese individuals and the bank were blacklisted, and US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin called the bank a “primary money-laundering concern” which helped North Korea finance its missile programmes.
The US also used Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Hong Kong to call for more democracy in the autonomous territory. Jinping is in Hong Kong to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the region’s return to China.
Meanwhile, the US State Department said the arms package to Taiwan, which is the first under President Trump, included technical support for early warning radar, high speed anti-radiation missiles, torpedoes and missile components. Nauert said the sales showed “US support for Taiwan’s ability to maintain a sufficient self-defence capability,” but claimed that it would not impact the US’ one-China policy.
The United States is the sole arms supplier to Taiwan. China’s relations with Taiwan remain strained, with the country’s leadership giving Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen the cold shoulder since she took power in 2016, because she refuses to recognise the “one China” policy. On Friday’s Tsai’s office said her government would continue to “seek constructive dialogue with Beijing”.
However, she added that the US arms sale “increases Taiwan’s confidence and ability to maintain the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”. Taiwan’s defence ministry said the items being sold would enhance air and sea combat capability and early warning defences.
The last arms sale from the US to Taiwan took place under the Barack Obama administration in December 2015, worth $1.83 billion.
The arms sale announcement also comes in the midst of a protest by China to Washington on Thursday, against a bill approved by a US Senate committee, which called for the resumption of port visits to Taiwan by the US Navy for the first time since 1979.
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