US announces $345 million military aid for Taiwan
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The United States on Friday announced a weapons package for Taiwan worth up to $345 million, Reuters reports. The Biden administration has not publicized details as to what this package will include.
Congress has authorized up to a $1 billion worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority military aid for Taiwan, a democratic nation which vehemently refutes China’s claim that the island belongs to the Chinese mainland. The US has consistently maintained a “One China” policy under which it does not recognize Taiwanese sovereignty, and does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei, but also recognizes the island’s need to defend itself against Chinese efforts to seize control of it: China has never taken a military invasion off the table.
Friday’s package is in addition to nearly $19 billion in military sales of F-16s and other major weapons systems that the US has approved for Taiwan, Reuters reported.
In a statement about the new package, the Taiwanese defense ministry thanked the US for its “firm security commitment,” TOI reports.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on May 16 told a Senate panel prior to the announcement of the new package: “I’m pleased that the United States will soon provide significant additional security assistance to Taiwan through the Presidential Drawdown Authority that Congress authorized last year.”
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