China demands US cancel potential arms sale to Taiwan

HONG KONG • China has demanded that the United States immediately cancel its latest arms sale to Taiwan, said the Chinese state broadcaster, citing the Ministry of National Defence.

The Pentagon said last Friday that the State Department had approved the potential sale of military technical assistance to Taiwan worth an estimated US$108 million (S$150 million).

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification with the mainland, by force if necessary. Taipei has complained of increased military pressure from Beijing to try and force it to accept its sovereignty.

The US has only unofficial ties with Taiwan, but US law requires Washington to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

Taiwan requested the latest assistance, including spare and repair parts for tanks and combat vehicles, and US government and contractor technical and logistical support, the Pentagon said.

"The proposed sale will contribute to the sustainment of the recipient's vehicles, small arms, combat weapon systems, and logistical support items, enhancing its ability to meet current and future threats," said the Pentagon's Defence Security Cooperation Agency.

It would also enhance Taiwan's military inter-operability with the US and other allies, and the island's armed forces would have no difficulty absorbing the equipment and support, it added.

The State Department notification does not indicate that a contract has been signed or that negotiations have concluded.

But Taiwan's Defence Ministry said the deal was expected to "become effective" within a month.

The US has urged Taiwan to modernise its military to become a "porcupine" that is hard for China to attack, advocating the sale of inexpensive, mobile and survivable weapons that could outlast any initial assault by the Chinese military.

Meanwhile, a senior European Union lawmaker said yesterday at the start of a trip to Taiwan that Europe must support Taiwan's democracy.

Ms Nicola Beer, a member of Germany's liberal Free Democratic Party, said "now is the moment to stand firm on the side of Taiwan", calling Europe and the island part of a "family of democracies".

She said: "There is no room for Chinese aggression in democratic Taiwan. For the moment, we witness war in Europe; we do not want to witness war in Asia."

Ms Beer is scheduled to meet Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and other top officials during her three-day visit.

In a separate visit to Taiwan, former US defence secretary Mark Esper yesterday said the time had come for Washington to "move away from strategic ambiguity", referring to the US stance on whether it would intervene militarily on the island's behalf. It is a policy designed both to ward off a Chinese invasion and to discourage Taiwan from ever formally declaring independence.

Also yesterday, China warned that it would take "forceful measures" if US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, after the Financial Times said that she would do so next month.

Ms Pelosi's visit had been postponed from April, after she tested positive for Covid-19.

At a regular briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: "If the US side obstinately clings to this course, China will definitely take resolute and forceful measures to firmly defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"The United States must be fully responsible for all the consequences caused by this."

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said it has "not received relevant information" about any visit.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE