((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
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US is required by law to supply weapons to Taiwan despite lack of official ties
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China increases military pressure on Taiwan
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Taiwan expects sales to improve F-16 readiness and defense capabilities
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Taiwanese president visits Hawaii on Saturday
(Added comments from the Ministry of Defense of Taiwan, paragraphs 7 and 8)
The US State Department has approved the potential sale of parts for F-16 jets and radars to Taiwan for an estimated $385 million, the Pentagon said on Friday, a day before Taiwanese President Lai Ching -you begin a delicate journey in the Pacific.
The United States is required by law to provide Taiwan, claimed by China, with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei, to the continued anger of Beijing.
Democratically governed Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims.
China has stepped up its military pressure on Taiwan, including holding two rounds of war games this year, and security sources told Reuters that Beijing could hold more to coincide with Lai's Pacific tour, which includes stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory.
The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the sale included $320 million in spare parts and support for the F-16 fighter jets, as well as active electronically scanned array radars and related equipment. .
The State Department also approved the potential sale to Taiwan of enhanced mobile subscriber equipment and support for an estimated $65 million, the Pentagon said. The lead contractor for the $65 million sale is General Dynamics GD.N.
Taiwan's defense ministry said it expected the sales to “take effect” within a month and that the equipment will help maintain the readiness of the F-16 fleet and to “constitute a credible defense force”.
“Taiwan and the United States will continue to strengthen their security partnership and work together to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region,” the ministry said in a statement.
Last month, the United States announced a potential $2 billion arms sale to Taiwan (), including the delivery to the island for the first time of an advanced air defense missile system tested during from a battle in Ukraine.
Mr. Lai flies to Hawaii on Saturday for what is officially a stopover on his way to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, three of the dozen countries that do not yet have formal diplomatic ties with Taipei. It will also make a stopover in Guam.
Hawaii and Guam are home to major US military bases. China on Friday urged the United States to exercise “utmost caution” in its relations with Taiwan.
The State Department said it saw no justification for what it called a private, routine and unofficial transit of Lai being used as a pretext for provocation.
