• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
White House Moves Forward on Three Arms Sales To Taiwan: Sources

White House Moves Forward on Three Arms Sales To Taiwan: Sources

October 12, 2020
Bill Clinton Takes To ‘The View’ To Brush Aside Deluge Of Reports About Biden’s Decline

Bill Clinton Takes To ‘The View’ To Brush Aside Deluge Of Reports About Biden’s Decline

June 5, 2025
Musk Describes Experiencing ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ Firsthand in Fox Interview 

Trump ‘Disappointed’ With Musk’s Criticism of ‘Big, Beautiful, Bill’ — Musk Fires Back

June 5, 2025
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Confronted By Reporter As She Compares ICE Agents To Nazi Group

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Confronted By Reporter As She Compares ICE Agents To Nazi Group

June 5, 2025
Key Senate Committee Looks To Nuke Biden Climate Spending In ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

Key Senate Committee Looks To Nuke Biden Climate Spending In ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’

June 5, 2025
‘Nonpartisan’ Congressional Budget Office Is Not So Nonpartisan After All, New Report Shows

‘Nonpartisan’ Congressional Budget Office Is Not So Nonpartisan After All, New Report Shows

June 5, 2025
‘A Significant Impact’: Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill To Double Down On Border Security

‘A Significant Impact’: Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill To Double Down On Border Security

June 5, 2025
IDF Reclaims American-Israeli Couple’s Bodies From Hamas

IDF Reclaims American-Israeli Couple’s Bodies From Hamas

June 5, 2025
John Kennedy Tells ‘Morning Joe’ He Can’t ‘Understand’ Where Howard Lutnick Is Coming From On Tariffs

John Kennedy Tells ‘Morning Joe’ He Can’t ‘Understand’ Where Howard Lutnick Is Coming From On Tariffs

June 5, 2025
Charlamagne Blasts Black Dem Voters Over Being ‘Blindly Loyal And Obedient For No Damn Reason’

Charlamagne Blasts Black Dem Voters Over Being ‘Blindly Loyal And Obedient For No Damn Reason’

June 5, 2025
‘Never Going To Get Them Back’: Dem Party’s Efforts To Win Back Male Voters Are Doomed, Its Own Strategists Say

‘Never Going To Get Them Back’: Dem Party’s Efforts To Win Back Male Voters Are Doomed, Its Own Strategists Say

June 5, 2025
JASON LEWIS: Who’s The Real Racist?

JASON LEWIS: Who’s The Real Racist?

June 5, 2025
Trump Will Slash VOA Staff To Just 18 People, Leaked Letter Reveals

Trump Will Slash VOA Staff To Just 18 People, Leaked Letter Reveals

June 5, 2025
  • Donald Trump
  • State of the Union
  • Elon Musk
  • Tariffs
  • Congress
  • Faith
  • Immigration
Thursday, June 5, 2025
  • Login
IJR
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls
No Result
View All Result
IJR
No Result
View All Result
Home News

White House Moves Forward on Three Arms Sales To Taiwan: Sources

by Reuters
October 12, 2020 at 7:31 pm
in News
245 7
0
White House Moves Forward on Three Arms Sales To Taiwan: Sources

A general view of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 7, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The White House is moving forward with three sales of advanced weaponry to Taiwan, sending in recent days a notification of the deals to Congress for approval, five sources familiar with the situation said on Monday.

The move in the run-up to the Nov. 3 U.S. election, first reported by Reuters, is likely to anger China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province that it has vowed to reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Reuters broke the news in September that as many as seven major weapons systems were making their way through the U.S. export process as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on China.

Asked for a response to Monday’s news, the Chinese embassy urged Washington in an emailed statement to stop arms sales to and military ties with Taiwan, “lest it should gravely harm China-US relations and cross-Strait peace and stability.”

In the emailed statement, an embassy representative said: “China consistently and firmly opposes US arms sales to Taiwan and has firm resolve in upholding its sovereignty and security.”

Leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees were notified that three of the planned weapons sales had been approved by the U.S. State Department which oversees Foreign Military Sales, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The informal notifications were for a truck-based rocket launcher made by Lockheed Martin Corp called a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), long-range air-to-ground missiles made by Boeing Co called SLAM-ER, and external sensor pods for F-16 jets that allow the real-time transmission of imagery and data from the aircraft back to ground stations.

Notifications for the sale of other weapons systems, including large, sophisticated aerial drones, land-based Harpoon anti-ship missiles and underwater mines, to deter amphibious landings, have yet to reach Capitol Hill, but these were expected soon, the sources said.

A State Department spokesman said: “As a matter of policy, the United States does not confirm or comment on proposed defense sales or transfers until they are formally notified to Congress.”

CONGRESSIONAL BACKING FOR TAIWAN

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees have the right to review, and block, weapons sales under an informal review process before the State Department sends its formal notification to the legislative branch.

Lawmakers, who are generally wary of what they perceive as Chinese aggression and supportive of Taiwan, were not expected to object to the Taiwan sales.

Taiwan’s representative office in Washington said it had no comment.

News that new arms sales were moving forward came after senior U.S. officials last week repeated calls for Taiwan to spend more on its own defense and to carry out military reforms to make clear to China the risks of attempting to invade.

It comes at a time when China has significantly stepped up military activity near Taiwan and as U.S.-China relations have plunged to the lowest point in decades as the U.S. election nears. President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, have both sought to appear tough in their approach to Beijing.

Speaking on Wednesday, the U.S. national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, warned against any attempt to retake Taiwan by force, saying amphibious landings were notoriously difficult and there was a lot of ambiguity about how the United States would respond.

The United States is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but it has not made clear whether it would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese attack, something that would likely lead to a much broader conflict with Beijing.

O’Brien said Taiwan needed to invest in capabilities including more coastal defense cruise missiles, naval mines, fast-attack craft, mobile artillery and advanced surveillance assets.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Patricia Zengerle, Mike Stone and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by Franklin Paul and Matthew Lewis)

Tags: 2020 Presidential ElectionChina
Share196Tweet123
Reuters

Reuters

Reuters is an international news organization.

Advertisements

Top Stories June 10th
Top Stories June 7th
Top Stories June 6th
Top Stories June 3rd
Top Stories May 30th
Top Stories May 29th
Top Stories May 24th
Top Stories May 23rd
Top Stories May 21st
Top Stories May 17th

Join Over 6M Subscribers

We’re organizing an online community to elevate trusted voices on all sides so that you can be fully informed.





IJR

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Trusted Voices On All Sides

  • About Us
  • GDPR Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Editorial Standards & Corrections Policy
  • Subscribe to IJR

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
  • US News
  • Commentary
  • World News
  • Faith
  • Latest Polls

    Copyright © 2024 IJR

Top Stories June 10th Top Stories June 7th Top Stories June 6th Top Stories June 3rd Top Stories May 30th Top Stories May 29th Top Stories May 24th Top Stories May 23rd Top Stories May 21st Top Stories May 17th