Although the United States does not recognize Taiwan as a state and considers China as the sole legitimate government, it nevertheless provides Taipei with significant military aid.
China condemned on Saturday evening the sale of American surface-to-air missile systems to Taiwan (approved the day before by Washington), denouncing an action which “seriously harms Sino-American relations» et «endangers peace» in the region.
This operation “seriously violates China’s sovereignty and security interests, seriously harms China-US relations, and endangers peace and stability” in the strait, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement released Saturday evening. The document specifies that Beijing could take “all necessary measures to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity».
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The $1.16 billion transaction, which must still be validated by Congress, includes various anti-aircraft systems, including NASAMS and 123 missiles, according to the American agency responsible for the sale of military equipment to the stranger.
Significant military aid
Another sale announced Friday concerns radar systems for a total amount of $828 million. The equipment will be taken directly from US Air Force stocks.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense expressed its “sincere gratitude» for this sale which could help the army «to continue to improve its defense capability and jointly maintain peace and stability across the strait“. The United States does not recognize Taiwan as a state and considers the People’s Republic of China the sole legitimate government, but nevertheless provides Taipei with significant military aid.
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Beijing regularly opposes American support for Taiwan and accuses Washington of meddling in its affairs. China indeed considers Taiwan as a part of its territory that it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest, since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
If she says she favors a “peaceful reunification“, it has never renounced the use of military force and regularly sends warships and fighter planes around the island. In mid-October, Taiwan detected a record number of 153 Chinese planes in a single day near the island following a day of Chinese military maneuvers.
A month earlier, Beijing had sanctioned American defense companies, in retaliation for Washington’s approval of the sale of military equipment to Taiwan.
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