Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that the United States could officially announce the Taiwan arms sale as soon as Thursday. The US Department of State declined to comment.
Bloomberg first reported in November about a potential US-to-Taiwan arms sale that would be worth US$1 billion. The US said the sale is based on the Taiwan Relations Act which provides legal authority to the US to assist Taiwan in building its defense arsenal.
An unnamed source from the US Department of Defense said in Bloomberg’s new report that the sale is now worth a total of US$1.83 billion (NT$59.9 billion). Weapons such as the Perry-class frigates, Stinger anti-air missiles and amphibious assault vehicles are still on the list. However, Taiwan’s requests of submarines and F-16 C/D fighters remain unfulfilled.
The US federal executive departments have until the end of this week to notify Congress about the arms sale by year end. Many speculate that the US will announce soon to avoid coinciding with Taiwan’s presidential election in early January.