US President Joe Biden approved US$567mil (RM2.3bil) in defence assistance for Taiwan, the White House said, as China ramps up political and military pressure on the self-ruled island.
While the United States does not officially recognise Taiwan diplomatically, it is Taipei’s key partner and major provider of weapons – a point of consternation for Beijing which has repeatedly called on Washington to stop arming the island, which it claims is part of its territory.
In a brief statement on Sunday, the White House said Biden had delegated the secretary of state “to direct the drawdown of up to US$567mil in defence articles and services of the Department of Defence, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan.”
It did not give details of the package, which is nearly twice the size of the US$345mil in defence support approved in July last year.The United States in April this year approved billions in military aid for Taiwan in the face of an increasingly assertive China which has upped military and political pressure on the island in recent years.
Beijing has regularly expressed anger at international support for Taipei and accused Washington of meddling in its affairs.
China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and maintains a near-daily presence of fighter jets, drones and warships around the island.
It has said it will never renounce the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and has also ramped up rhetoric about “unification” being “inevitable”. — AFP
