China has expressed its disaffection to the deal and vowed to take countermeasures against relevant companies involved in arms sales transfer to the Chinese-claimed island. Such provocations by the U.S. administration only widen the distrust level between the two superpowers as it is apparent that neither the United States nor China would budge on the subject of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
On December 15, 2023, the U.S. State Department approved a $300 million sale of military equipment to Taiwan to bolster the island’s defenses against any Chinese provocation.
The sale was for follow-on life cycle support to maintain Taiwan’s Command, Control, Communications, and Computers, or C4 capabilities, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The assistance will increase Taiwan’s ability to “meet current and future threats by enhancing operational readiness” and sustain existing C4 capabilities that allow for the secure flow of tactical information, it added. (Reuters)
As reported by Taiwan’s presidential office, the contract is the 12th arms transfer to Taipei by President Joe Biden’s administration, displaying the significance that the U.S. government places on the island’s military needs.
In response to this, the Chinese Foreign Ministry (Dec 18, 2023) denounced and expressed their disaffection to the deal and vowed to take countermeasures against relevant enterprises/companies involved in arms sales transfer to the Chinese-claimed island.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated, “The Taiwan question is a matter of China’s internal affairs and allows no external interference,” Wang told reporters. “No matter how many weapons the U.S. provides to the Taiwan region, it will neither stop the historical process of China’s reunification nor shake the firm will of the Chinese people to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.
Furthermore, he stated that by announcing another arms sale to China’s Taiwan region, the United States has blatantly violated the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communique, especially the August 17 Communique. This move seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests, harms peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and sends a wrong message to separatist forces seeking “Taiwan independence”.
Needless to say, such provocations by the U.S. administration only widen the distrust level between the two superpowers. Despite joint communiques released by China and the United States on Taiwan and a recent thaw in relations, it is apparent that neither the United States nor China would budge on the subject of Taiwan’s sovereignty. A major cause of concern for regional countries as the potential for conflict rises.
