By AP and AFP – published by CNA
Beijing – The Chinese government protested on Sunday (Dec. 22) the latest American announcements of military sales and assistance to Taiwan, warning the United States that it is “playing with fire”, AP said.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden authorised the provision of up to US$571 million in Defence Department material and services and in military education and training for Taiwan. Separately, the Defence Department said on Friday that $295 million in military sales had been approved.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement urged the US to stop arming Taiwan and stop what it called “dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”.
Taiwan is a democratic island of 23 million people that the Chinese government claims as its territory and says must come under its control. US military sales and assistance aim to help Taiwan defend itself and deter China from launching an attack.
The US$571 million in military assistance comes on top of Biden’s authorisation of US$567 million for the same purposes in late September. The military sales include US$265 million for about 300 tactical radio systems and US$30 million for 16 gun mounts.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the approval of the two sales, saying in a social media post on X that it reaffirmed the US government’s “commitment to our defence”.
Earlier last Monday (Dec. 16) Taiwan said it had received 38 advanced Abrams battle tanks from the United States as the island boosts its military capabilities against a potential Chinese attack, AFP said.
The M1A2 tanks – the first batch of 108 ordered in 2019 – arrived in Taiwan late last Sunday and were transferred to an army training base in Hsinchu, south of the capital Taipei, the defence ministry said.
Abrams tanks, which are among the heaviest in the world, are a mainstay of the US military.
The M1A2s are the first new tanks to be delivered to Taiwan in 30 years, the semi-official Central News Agency said.
Taiwan’s current tank force consists of around 1,000 Taiwan-made CM 11 Brave Tiger and US-made M60A3 tanks, technology that is increasingly obsolete.
The government previously allocated the equivalent of more than US$1.2 billion for the 108 Abrams.
Taiwan faces the constant threat of an invasion by China, which has refused to rule out using force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.
While it has a homegrown defence industry and has been upgrading its equipment, Taiwan relies heavily on US arms sales to bolster its security capabilities.
CAPTIONS:
Top:: This handout photo taken and released on Dec. 16, 2024, shows soldiers securing a US-made M1A2 Abrams battle tank onto a trailer at an army armour training centre in Hsinchu County, Hsinchu. Photo: AFP/Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence and published by CNA
Front Page: An Abrams tank fires a round on May 31, 2024. File photo: AFP/Fadel Senna and published by CNA
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