The United States has approved the potential sale of $619 million in new weapons to Taiwanincluding missiles for its F-16 fleet, as the island reported a second day of large-scale Chinese air force incursion nearby.
The arms sales are likely to further strain already strained ties between Washington and Beijing, which has repeatedly called for an end to such deals, viewing them as unwarranted support for democratically-ruled Taiwan, an island China claims as its own territory.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that the US State Department has approved the potential sale to Taiwan of weapons and equipment that includes 200 anti-aircraft missiles (AMRAAMs).
“The proposed sale will contribute to the recipient’s ability to provide defense of its airspace, regional security and interoperability with the United States,” it said in a statement.
TAiwan’s defense minister said the missiles would help “effectively defend the airspace to deal with threats and provocations from the communist military” and would strengthen defense stocks.
Raytheon Technologies RTX.N and Lockheed Martin LMT.N are the prime contractors, it added. China has sanctioned both companies for selling arms from Taiwan.
Taiwan has for the past three years or so complained about increased Chinese military activities near the island as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims.
Taiwan reported on Thursday a second day of large-scale Chinese air force incursions into its anti-aircraft identification zone, with its defense minister saying it had detected 21 aircraft in the past 24 hours.
China has said its activities in the area are justified as it seeks to defend its territorial integrity and to warn the US against “collaborating” with Taiwan, despite the anger this is causing in Taipei.
Taiwan’s defense minister said the aircraft, 17 J-10 fighters and four J-16 fighters, had flown into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, according to a map released by the ministry.
The J-10s, an older model that entered service two decades ago, flew closer to the Chinese coast than Taiwan’s, while the J-16s, a much newer and more advanced fighter, flew northeast of the Taiwan-controlled Prata Islands, the map showed.
The lightly defended Pratas are strategically located at the top of the South China Sea, and many of China’s overflights take place nearby.
Taiwan’s forces were monitoring the situation, including sending up their own planes, the ministry added, using the normal wording for its response to such Chinese incursions.
The ministry reported on Wednesday that 19 Chinese aircraft are flying in Taiwan’s air defense zone.
None of the planes crossed the sensitive median line in the Taiwan Strait, which has served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides but which China’s air force has flown over almost daily since the war games were staged near Taiwan last August.
Taiwan last reported a large median crossing by Chinese aircraft on Friday, when 10 planes were involved.
China has not commented on recent activities near Taiwan. In January, China said it was staging combat drills around the island to “resolutely counter the provocative actions of external forces and the Taiwan independence separatist forces”.
No shots have been fired and the Chinese aircraft have been flying in Taiwan’s ADIZ, not its territorial airspace.
The ADIZ is a wider area that Taiwan monitors and patrols which gives it more time to react to potential threats.
Taiwan’s government has repeatedly offered talks with China, but says the island will defend itself if attacked and that only the Taiwanese people can decide their own future.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Gerry Doyle)