WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans to sell Taiwan $1.42 billion in arms, the first such sale under the administration of Donald Trump and a move sure to anger China, whose help the president has been seeking to rein in North Korea.

FILE PHOTO - A demonstrator holds flags of Taiwan and the United States in support of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during an stop-over after her visit to Latin America in Burlingame, California, U.S., January 14, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters the administration had told Congress of the seven proposed sales on Thursday.

“It’s now valued about $1.42 billion,” she said.

The State Department said the package included technical support for early warning radar, high speed anti-radiation missiles, torpedoes and missile components.

Nauert said the sales showed U.S. “support for Taiwan’s ability to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,” but there was no change to the United States’ long-standing “one China” policy, which recognizes Beijing and not Taipei.

The United States is the sole arms supplier to Taiwan, which China deems its own and has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

Beijing has given Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen the cold shoulder since she took power last year because she leads an independence-leaning ruling party and refuses to recognize the “one China” policy.

On Friday, Tsai’s office said that her government will continue “to seek constructive dialogue with Beijing, and promote positive developments in cross-strait relations.”

“(The arms sale) increases Taiwan’s confidence and ability to maintain the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Tsai’s office tweeted.

Asked about the sale at an event on Thursday evening in Washington, China’s Ambassador Cui Tiankai said the United States was “incorrigible” when it comes to Taiwan, the official party paper the People’s Daily reported on its website.

“But we should still continue to instruct (them) and continue advancing on the right track of China-U.S. relations because this is what truly fits with for both countries’ long term interests,” the paper quoted Cui as saying.

The sale, which requires congressional approval, would be the first to Taiwan under Trump and the first since a $1.83 billion sale that former President Barack Obama announced in December 2015, to China’s dismay.

The previous package included two navy frigates in addition to anti-tank missiles and amphibious attack vehicles.

A State Department official said the latest package primarily represented “upgrades to existing defense capabilities aimed at converting current legacy systems from analog to digital.”

Taiwan’s defense ministry said the items would enhance air and sea combat capability and early warning defenses. It said Taiwan and the United States would continue to consolidate their security partnership to contribute to long-term stability in the region.

STRONG SUPPORT

In a strong sign of congressional support, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee welcomed what he called the “long-overdue” arms sale.

“Sales of defensive weapons, based on Taiwan’s needs, are a key provision of our commitments as laid out by the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances,” said Rep. Ed Royce, referring to legislation and informal guidelines that steer U.S. relations with Taiwan.

U.S. officials said in March the administration was crafting a big arms sale to Taiwan, but such talk died down as Trump sought to persuade Beijing to do more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, an increasing threat to the United States.

Earlier on Thursday, China responded angrily and said it had protested to Washington after a U.S. Senate committee approved a bill calling for the resumption of port visits to Taiwan by the U.S. Navy for the first time since the United States adopted a one-China policy in 1979.

The bill also directs the Pentagon to help Taiwan develop an indigenous undersea warfare program and recommends strengthened strategic cooperation with Taipei.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said the bill was in violation of the principles of U.S.-China relations and called on Washington to halt military drills with and arms sales to Taiwan “to avoid further impairing broadly cooperative China-U.S. relations.”

U.S. officials told Reuters this week that Trump - who alarmed Beijing after assuming office by breaking with decades of precedent and talking to Taiwan’s president - was becoming increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction on North Korea and trade.

According to the officials, Trump is now considering trade actions against Beijing, despite having heaped praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping after an April summit.

Also on Thursday, Washington stepped up pressure on Beijing by imposing sanctions on two Chinese citizens and a shipping company for helping North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and accusing a Chinese bank of laundering money for Pyongyang.

Trump plans to meet Xi again on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany next week, U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters </s> BEIJING, June 30 (Reuters) - China's embassy to the United States urged Washington to immediately revoke its "wrong decision" and halt $1.42 billion worth of planned arms sales to Taiwan.

"The Chinese government and Chinese people have every right to be outraged," the embassy said in a statement release late on Thursday, adding that the sale sends a very wrong message to "Taiwan independence" forces.

The United States is the sole arms supplier to Taiwan, which China deems its own. It has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Thursday told reporters the administration had told Congress of seven proposed sales, the first such sale under the administration of Donald Trump. (Reporting by Christian Shepherd) </s> The Trump administration plans to sell Taiwan just over $1.4 billion in weapons, while China's ambassador to the US has reportedly said the deal goes against the "spirit" of talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"The administration had formally notified Congress of seven proposed defense sales for Taiwan. It's now valued about $1.42 billion," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Thursday, adding that there was no change to America’s long-standing "one-China" policy.

The weapons are to support the autonomous island’s self-defense capability, said the State Department.

The sale, when first announced in March, had already provoked criticism from Beijing that said the weapons won’t prevent the self-ruled island’s re-unification with China.

"Separatist Taiwan independence forces and their activities are the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in March. "It is futile to use weapons to refuse unification, and is doomed to have no way out."

Taiwan has been self-ruled since the end of China’s civil war in 1950, but Beijing has maintained its sovereignty over the island.

The weapons sale requires congressional approval, and comes two years after President Barack Obama announced a $1.83 billion arms sale to Taiwan, provoking an angry reaction from China.

The previous package included two Navy frigates as well as anti-tank missiles and amphibious attack vehicles.

The US has pursued the so-called one-China policy since 1979 which meant that Washington agreed not to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Yet, the US has offered military support to the autonomous island despite Beijing’s objections.

Earlier on Thursday, China protested to Washington after a US Senate committee approved a bill calling for the resumption of port visits to Taiwan by the US Navy for the first time since 1979.

In December, breaking the diplomatic embargo between Washington and Taipei, President Donald Trump accepted a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan's leader, Tsai Ing-wen.

It was the first contact between a leader of Taiwan and an incumbent or incoming US president in almost four decades, and caused a diplomatic uproar.

However, Trump agreed to honor the "one China" policy, and hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida resort in April.

The Trump administration has since demanded that Beijing put more pressure on North Korea to rein in its nuclear and missile programs.

Also on Thursday, Washington announced sanctions against a Chinese bank for allegedly laundering money for Pyongyang, and against two Chinese citizens as well as a shipping company for allegedly helping North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. </s> Taiwan confirmed Thursday it has asked to purchase more than 100 tanks, along with air defense and anti-tank missile systems from the U.S. in a major potential arms sale that could worsen frictions between Washington and Beijing.

The Taiwanese Defense Ministry said in a statement it has submitted a letter of request for 108 cutting-edge M1A2 Abrams tanks, 1,240 TOW anti-armor missiles, 409 Javelin anti-tank missiles and 250 Stinger man-portable air defense systems. The request is proceeding "as normal," it said. It wasn't clear when the official request had been issued, after which the U.S. has 120 days to respond. Reports have also said Taiwan is seeking 66 additional F-16 fighter jets in the most advanced "V'" configuration.

China's Foreign Ministry said yesterday it is seriously concerned about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, after a source told Reuters that Washington was planning a $2 billion weapons sale to the island China claims as its own. China urges the U.S. to stop arms sales to Taiwan to avoid harming bilateral relations, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing in Beijing.

The U.S. is the main supplier of defensive weapons to Taiwan, which China considers its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary. China has for years opposed U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, but has taken little concrete action in response to them. In April of this year, the U.S. State Department approved the sale to Taiwan of a pilot training program and maintenance and logistics support for Taiwan air force F-16 fighters based at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona at an estimated cost of $500 million. In 2018, the U.S. State Department approved the sale to Taiwan of spare parts for F-16 fighter planes and other military aircraft worth up to $330 million. In 2017, the U.S. decided to sell Taiwan $1.42 billion in arms, the first such sale under the administration of President Donald Trump. China said the decision contradicted a "consensus" President Xi Jinping reached with Trump in talks in April in Florida.

Taiwan, which split from China amid civil war in 1949, has had no formal diplomatic ties with the U.S. since Washington recognized Beijing in 1979. In 2016, President Trump received a congratulatory phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, thus becoming the first U.S. president to speak to a Taiwanese leader in decades.

The announcement came as the U.S. and China are engaged in an increasingly acrimonious battle over trade and technology. The Trump administration has imposed up to 25% tariffs on $250 billion in imports from China and is preparing to increase import duties on another $300 billion. Beijing has responded by imposing tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. products, which went into effect Saturday. It also retaliated against the U.S. blacklisting of Chinese technology giant Huawei by announcing Friday that it will establish its own list of "unreliable entities" consisting of foreign businesses, corporations and individuals. No details have been given. </s> PARIS — The Trump administration is proposing to sell more than $2 billion worth of tanks and other military equipment to Taiwan, American officials said on Thursday. The sale would add to tensions between the United States and China, which are already clashing over trade, communications technology and a military buildup in the Pacific region.

The sale would be one of the largest to Taiwan in recent years by the United States. The single costliest part of the package is 108 M1A2 Abrams tanks, the officials said.

The United States has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a de facto independent island off the southeast coast of China that the Chinese Communist Party intends to bring back eventually under the control of Beijing, by force if necessary. But the Taiwan Relations Act obligates the United States government to help Taiwan maintain self-defense capabilities, and each administration has sold it arms packages. The United States is Taiwan’s main arms supplier.

The Taiwan defense ministry requested the weapons in the latest package, which was first reported by Reuters on Wednesday. Congress would have to be notified of the deal before it could go forward. </s> The US’ decision to go ahead with the sale of a $1.4 billion arms package to Taiwan threatens to undermine US-Chinese relations, China’s ambassador to Washington said.

Speaking to the People’s Daily newspaper Thursday, Ambassador Cui Tiankai said recent US moves eroded the trust built when US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida in April.

“US arms sales to Taiwan and the sanctions against Chinese enterprises have damaged the basis and mutual trust between the two countries, it also contradicts the spirit and consensus of the two leaders’ meeting in Mar A Lago,” said Cui.

A statement released by the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that the sale of arms to Taiwan “grossly interferes” in China’s domestic affairs. “The Chinese side has lodged serious representation to the US side, and reserves every right to take further action,” read the statement.

On Thursday, the Trump administration notified Congress of its plans to go ahead with the controversial arms package, the first such sale under President Trump.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the agreement included “seven proposed defense sales for Taiwan,” adding that the deal was valued at “about $1.42 billion.”

A US official familiar with the deal told CNN that the package would include advanced missiles and torpedoes including the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon and MK 48 6AT Heavy Weight Torpedoes.

It will also include technical support for an early warning radar system.

The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, signaled strong support for the sale, calling it “long overdue” in a statement issued shortly after its announcement.

Congress has 30 days to raise any objections to the deal.

The announcement of the arms sale comes the same day the US Treasury Department announced a series of sanctions and measures that would among other things, sever US financial ties with China’s Bank of Dandong, which the administration claims acts as a pipeline to support alleged illicit North Korean financial activity.

Both announcements came during Trump’s meeting with South Korea’s new president Moon Jae-in at the White House. Both leaders are anxious to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile program.

The unexpected timing of the deal — which comes while Chinese President Xi is in Hong Kong commemorating the 20th anniversary of the city’s return to China — surprised many analysts. Zhang Baohui, professor of political science at Lingnan University, said until this week many high-profile Taiwanese had believed the US was moving away from them.

“(This arms deal) didn’t go through for a while and some people suspected it was due to Trump’s so-called reliance on China to resolve the North Korea issue … so I think this arms sale could boost confidence (in US),” he said.

China considers self-governing democratic Taiwan a renegade province and Beijing has not ruled out using military force to bring Taiwan under its rule.

The US does not recognize Taiwan — officially known as the Republic of China — as an independent country, and adheres to the “one China” policy, which means it does not maintain an official relationship with Taiwan.

Nauert added that there was no change to the “one China” policy.

“Today’s notifications are consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, and our support for Taiwan’s ability to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,” a US official familiar with the sale told CNN.

Under the Taiwan Relations Act the US is legally required to provide Taiwan with the ability to defend itself.

In a move that seemed to portend a shift in US policy, President-elect Trump spoke to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen in a phone call in December, upending decades of diplomatic protocol.

However, the Trump administration has since said that it remains committed to the decades-long “one China” policy.

China has long criticized US arms sales to Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement Friday morning they were “sincerely grateful” for the US decision to go ahead with the arms deal.

“The arms sale was proposed by our country last year. The package includes eight types of equipment and system, which will boost our combat capabilities in air and sea,” the statement said.

The State Department also issued a statement marking the 20th anniversary of the transfer of Hong Kong from the UK to China, saying the US was “concerned about any infringements on civil liberties” in Hong Kong.

It is unknown how the announcements will impact on Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the meeting of the G20 next month. </s> The Pentagon and State Department have informally notified Congress of a potential $2 billion deal with Taiwan that includes the first-time sale of one of the U.S. Army’s top tanks, according to an official familiar with the proposal, drawing protests from China.

The deal would contain the M1A2 Abrams tank, and a resupply of anti-air and anti-armor weapons, the official familiar with the matter said. The notification of the government-to-government sale doesn’t include F-16 fighters, which are still under State Department and Pentagon review, the person said.

“We are severely concerned about the U.S.’s move,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in Beijing on Thursday. “We are firmly against U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. We urge the U.S. to see the high sensitivity and severe harm of arms sales to Taiwan.”

The move comes amid tensions over stalled trade talks between China and the U.S. China sees Taiwan as an integral part of its territory that it must unify, by force if necessary.

The package includes 108 of the tanks built by General Dynamics Corp., as well as 1,240 TOW wire-guided anti-tank missiles, 409 shoulder-launched “fire-and-forget” Javelin anti-tank missiles and 250 Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles made famous by Afghan “freedom fighters” in their war against the Soviet Union.

The informal notification, reported earlier Wednesday by Reuters, will be followed by a formal and public notification to Congress that’s likely to be approved within the normal 30-day review process. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense confirmed the request for the arms purchase on Thursday.

In March, China vigorously protested the Trump administration’s tacit approval of Taiwan’s request to buy more than 60 F-16s built by Lockheed Martin Corp. </s> The US announcement of a $1.42bn arms sale to Taiwan is a not-so-subtle warning shot across the bows of China’s president, Xi Jinping, who is due to meet Donald Trump for potentially tense bilateral talks at next week’s G20 summit in Hamburg. But Trump’s pre-emptive strike could backfire badly.

Official confirmation of the arms sale, under consideration since January, coincided with Xi’s officiation at an ostentatious military parade in Hong Kong on Friday, celebrating China’s reunification with what until 1997 Beijing regarded as a “renegade province” similar to Taiwan.

In a series of parallel, and provocative, moves, a Republican-controlled Senate committee also provisionally approved visits to Taiwan by the Japan-based US Seventh Fleet for the first time since 1979, when Washington recognised the People’s Republic of China and adopted a “one China” policy.

The decision, if implemented, could in effect provide a naval base and facilities for US aircraft carriers and destroyers just off the coast of the Chinese mainland. That’s a bit like the People’s Liberation Army building gun emplacements on Long Island.

The announcement was swiftly applauded in Taiwan, where many view China’s new regional assertiveness as a threat. “The ministry welcomes any form of partnership that would enhance Taiwan’s national defence capabilities and bring stability to the region,” the defence ministry said.

The Senate bill also directs the Pentagon to help Taiwan develop an undersea warfare programme and recommends strengthened strategic cooperation with Taipei.

Coincidentally or not, the US and Australia began their biggest ever joint military exercises on Thursday – a seaborne show of force purposefully directed at China. The battleship exercises, involving 33,000 personnel, reflect heightened tensions over what Washington views as Chinese military expansionism in the South China Sea.

China has expressed “outrage” over the Taiwan arms package. The foreign ministry demanded a halt to the sale and to military drills “to avoid further impairing broadly cooperative China-US relations”. But Beijing’s overall response will depend on the outcome of the Trump-Xi meeting in Hamburg.

When he and Xi first met in April, Trump hailed the start of a new era. “We have great chemistry together,” he declared, and dropped earlier threats to impose punitive trade tariffs and disown the one-China policy.

It transpired his main aim was to persuade Xi to take a tougher line on North Korea. He claimed to have succeeded. But the White House has been briefing in recent days that Trump is disappointed and frustrated at tepid Chinese cooperation on the Pyonyang regime.

So now US action on trade is back on the table. Not coincidentally again, the administration announced further sanctions relating to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes on Thursday, targeting a Chinese bank and a shipping company.

It also pointedly criticised China’s human rights and democracy record in Hong Kong. The US moves have sparked speculation about a new slump in bilateral relations but this is probably premature. None of the latest US actions is irreversible. Trump is crudely reminding Xi of possible consequences if their talks do not produce results. But China has a history of reacting badly to bullying and Trump’s tactics could blow up in his face.

In Taiwan, where many in the independence-minded, ruling Democratic Progressive party feel serially bullied by Beijing, indications of closer American engagement could raise false hopes and dangerously exacerbate strains with the mainland. China’s recent success in inducing Panama to break off diplomatic ties with Taipei, the latest example of Beijing’s attempts to isolate the island, was much resented.

Opinion polls suggest increasing numbers of younger Taiwanese, impatient with Chinese pressure to alter the status quo, are moving in the opposite direction to that which China wants – towards greater separation.

A recent Taiwan Brain Trust thinktank survey found that nearly 90% support “normalisation” of Taiwan’s political status internationally, prospectively meaning worldwide recognition of Taiwan as an independent, sovereign nation.

As in Hong Kong, Taiwanese citizens increasingly feel different from China; 75% said Taiwan and China are separate nations. Only 11% backed unification. And when they see Xi and his troops strutting around Victoria Harbour, who can blame them? </s> Beijing, June 6 (IANS) China on Thursday said it was seriously concerned about the US’ reported plans to sell arms to Taiwan, an issue that has long plagued Washington-Beijing ties.

The US’ tacit support to Taiwan and arms supply to the self-ruled island irks Beijing and the latest report about Washington planning a $2 billion weapons sale to Taipei will add to the raging Sino-American trade tensions.

“We are seriously concerned about the US move. We are firmly against the US’ arms sale to Taiwan… Our position is clear and consistent,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.

According to a news report, the US was planning to sell anti-tank, anti-aircraft weapons among others worth $2 billion to Taiwan, a self-governed island which China claims as its own and vows to reunite with the mainland someday.

“We urge the US to see high sensitivity and severe harm in selling arms to Taiwan, abide by the One-China principle and three joint communiques, stop arms sales to Taiwan as well as cut off its military ties with Taiwan,” Geng said.

“We also urge the US to prudently deal with issues related to Taiwan to prevent harm to bilateral relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

Even if the US severed its diplomatic channels with Taiwan in 1979 and established ties with China, it is bound by law to sell arms to Taipei for its defence.

This has long been a sore point in Washington-Beijing ties and become more contentious after US President Donald Trump came to power.

After taking office in 2016, Trump spoke to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen by the phone, breaking an almost four-decade protocol that rattled China.
The United States plans to sell Taiwan $1.42 billion in arms, the first such sale under the administration of Donald Trump.