The United States agreed to a $330 million deal to provide Taiwan with fighter jet parts, prompting backlash from China.
“The proposed sale will improve the recipient’s capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of the recipient’s fleet of F-16, C-130,” and other aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement.
Taiwan’s presidential office spokesperson Karen Kuo said the deal marks the “deepening of the Taiwan-U.S. security partnership” and “is an important cornerstone of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”
“Taiwan will stand firm with like-minded democratic friends and allies to deter the expansion of authoritarianism, defend the values of freedom and democracy, work to maintain the status quo, and ensure regional peace, stability, prosperity, and development,” the statement added.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian condemned the move, saying it “seriously violates the one-China principle” and “gravely infringes on China’s sovereignty and security interests, breaches international law, and sends a grave and erroneous signal to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces,” as per a report from the Global Times.
Last month, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said that the country will construct a multi-layered air defense system called the “T-Dome” to defend itself against increasing threats from China.
“The increase in defense spending has a purpose; it is a clear necessity to counter enemy threats and a driving force for developing our defense industries,” he said, going on to list Taiwan’s “three major goals.”
“First, we will accelerate our building of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous air defense system in Taiwan with multi-layered defense, high-level detection, and effective interception, and weave a safety net for Taiwan to protect the lives and property of citizens,” Lai said. “Second, we will advance the integration of high-tech and AI technologies to build a smart defense combat system, maximizing effective deterrence for our asymmetric strategy.”
The strategy comes as Taiwan has faced ongoing pressure from China.
