The United States is expected announce a new round of arms sales to Taiwan next month.
A Bloomberg News report released Wednesday cites a US official as saying that US President Barack Obama will announce the sale of around US$1 billion worth of arms to Taiwan in mid-December.
According to the Bloomberg report, the details of the sale have yet to finalize, but it is likely to include anti-ship cruise missiles, air defense and anti-tank missiles, amphibious assault vehicles, and an AH-64 attack helicopter.
The report says that the US last sold weapons to Taiwan four years ago, and this new deal is likely to place a strain on relations between Washington and Beijing.
The foreign ministry said Thursday that it welcome sales of US defensive weapons. During an interview on Thursday, foreign ministry spokesperson Eleanor Wang said that US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter have both said that the US will continue to abide by the Taiwan Relations Act. The Taiwan Relations Act requires the US to provide defensive arms to Taiwan.
Wang said that the foreign ministry has no further comment before the US Congress is formally notified of the arms sale. But she said that foreign ministry welcomes the US’s continued fulfillment of its guarantees to Taiwan.