Beijing [China], October 18 : China on Thursday urged the United States to "immediately stop" arming Taiwan following Washington's approval of the sale of over USD 11 billion of weapons to Taipei, as per Chinese state media.
"The US side has brazenly announced the plan to sell advanced weapons to Taiwan, which seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a press briefing as quoted by Xinhua.
The US has approved USD 11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, one of Washington's largest-ever weapons packages for the self-ruled island. The US State Department announced the deal late on Wednesday (local US time) during a nationally televised address by President Donald Trump.
Weapons in the proposed sale include 82 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS - worth more than USD 4bn - defence systems that are similar to what the US had been providing Ukraine to defend against Russian aerial attacks as per an analysis in the Al Jazeera.
The deal also includes 60 self-propelled howitzer artillery systems and related equipment worth more than USD 4 billion and drones valued at more than USD 1 billion.
Other sales in the package include military software valued at more than USD 1 billion, Javelin and TOW missiles worth more than USD 700 million, helicopter spare parts worth USD 96 million and refurbishment kits for Harpoon missiles worth USD 91 million.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung thanked Washington for the proposed arms sale, saying that it demonstrates the US' commitment to enhancing Taiwan's self-defence capabilities, as highlighted in the National Security Strategy Washington released earlier this month.
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te had in November this year announced a USD 40 billion supplementary defence budget to run from 2026 to 2033.
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