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> 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> 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> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is pursuing the sale of more than $2 billion worth of tanks and weapons to Taiwan, four people familiar with the negotiations said, sparking anger from Beijing which is already involved in an escalating trade war with Washington.

An informal notification of the proposed sale has been sent to the U.S. Congress, the four sources said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the possible deal.

The potential sale included 108 General Dynamics Corp M1A2 Abrams tanks worth around $2 billion as well as anti-tank and anti-aircraft munitions, three of the sources said. Taiwan has been interested in refreshing its existing U.S.-made battle tank inventory, which includes M60 Patton tanks.

The United States is the main 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.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said in March Washington was responding positively to Taipei's requests for new arms sales to bolster its defenses in the face of pressure from China. The United States has no formal ties with Taiwan but is bound by law to help provide it with the means to defend itself.

China and the United States are engaged in a fierce trade war, with clashes over Taiwan and the South China Sea exacerbating tensions.

A spokesman for the State Department, which oversees foreign military sales, said the U.S. government does not comment on or confirm potential or pending arms sales or transfers before they have been formally notified to Congress.

The congressional notifications included a variety of anti-tank munitions, including 409 Raytheon Co and Lockheed Martin Corp-made Javelin missiles worth as much as $129 million, two of the sources said.

The notifications also included 1,240 TOW anti-tank missiles worth as much as $299 million, one of the sources said. There were also 250 stinger missiles worth as much as $223 million in the notification, the source said.

Stingers are often used in portable anti-aircraft weapons systems.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry confirmed it had requested those weapons and that the request was proceeding normally.

The U.S. commitment to providing Taiwan with the weapons to defend itself helps Taiwan's military to raise its combat abilities, consolidates the Taiwan-U.S. security partnership and ensures Taiwan's security, the ministry said in a statement.

"We are severely concerned about the U.S. move and are firmly against U.S. arms sales to Taiwan," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing in Beijing.

China urges the United States to stop arms sales to Taiwan and prudently deal with issues relating to Taiwan to prevent harm to bilateral relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration rolled out a long-awaited overhaul of U.S. arms export policy in 2018 aimed at expanding sales to allies, saying it would bolster the American defense industry and create jobs at home.

Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro was one of the administration's architects of that policy. Navarro, a China hawk, wrote about the possible sale of tanks to Taiwan in a March opinion column in the New York Times ahead of a presidential trip to the Lima, Ohio, plant where they are made.

At a low point, the U.S. Army had only one tank coming from the plant a month, General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic said during an April conference call with investors, but said "we'll be rolling out 30 tanks a month by the end of this year," partly because of international orders.

The Pentagon announced last week it would sell 34 ScanEagle drones, made by Boeing Co, to the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam for $47 million.

The drones would afford greater intelligence-gathering capabilities, potentially curbing Chinese activity in the region.

China claims almost all of the strategic South China Sea and frequently lambastes the United States and its allies over naval operations near Chinese-occupied islands. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have competing claims.

China's Defense Minister Wei Fenghe warned the United States at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last weekend not to meddle in security disputes over Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told the meeting that the United States would no longer "tiptoe" around China's behavior in Asia.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry, responding to the Reuters report of planned the new arms sale, said Wei's "threatening" comments and recent Chinese military drills near Taiwan showed the importance of its need to strengthen its defensive abilities.

"Going forward our government will continue to deepen the close security partnership between Taiwan and the United States," it said. </s> Taipei, Taiwan -- Taiwan confirmed Thursday it has asked to purchase more than 100 tanks from the U.S., along with air defense and anti-tank missile systems in a major potential arms sale that drew immediate protest from China. A Defense Ministry statement said 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.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that China firmly opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

"This position is consistent and clear," he said at the ministry's daily briefing. "We urge the U.S. to fully understand the high sensitivity and serious harm of the issue of arms sales to Taiwan and abide by the one-China principle."

China considers self-governing Taiwan part of its territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. It says U.S. arms sales to the island constitute both interference in its internal affairs and a betrayal of earlier commitments made by Washington to Beijing.

The U.S. is the main supplier of weapons to Taiwan, and earlier reports have said Taiwan is also seeking 66 F-16 fighter jets in the most advanced "V'' configuration.

President Tsai Ing-wen said in March that Taiwan was seeking tanks and jet fighters, but didn't provide any details.

At a public appearance Thursday, she pledged continued support for a strengthened military and said the island's efforts were winning it more international support.

"We will keep on strengthening our self-defense capabilities (and) will also keep on being a contributor to regional peace," Tsai said.

The M1 Abrams would mark a significant upgrade from the aging tanks Taiwan's army now uses, while the TOW and Javelin systems would upgrade Taiwan's ability to repulse an attempt by China to land tanks and troops from across the 100 mile-wide Taiwan Strait.

The Stingers meanwhile could help boost Taiwan's defenses against China's more than 1,000 advanced fighter aircraft and 1,500 missiles pointing at the island.

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.

However, U.S. law requires it to take threats to the island seriously and to "make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability."

Tsai has made beefing up Taiwan's armed forces a central task of her administration amid increasing Chinese military threats and a campaign to increase Taiwan's diplomatic isolation and weaken its economy.

While China's military spending and numbers of ships, planes and missiles vastly outstrip those of Taiwan, the island is basing its defense on geographical factors and asymmetrical warfare, in which a weaker opponent can hold off a stronger one by pinpointing weaknesses and using specialized weaponry and tactics.

Tsai has also pushed to revamp the island's domestic arms industry and last month inaugurated a shipyard to build at least eight diesel-electric submarines. Taiwan currently operates just four aged submarines and pressure from China has prevented it from buying more abroad.

Thursday's Defense Ministry announcement comes 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> TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan has confirmed it has asked to purchase more than 100 U.S. tanks, along with air defense and anti-tank missile systems in a major potential arms sale that could worsen frictions between Washington and Beijing.

The Defense Ministry says 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.

It says Thursday the request is proceeding “as normal.”

The U.S. is the main supplier of defensive weapons to Taiwan, which China considers its own territory. The M1 Abrams would mark a significant upgrade from the aging tanks Taiwan’s army now uses.

Reports have also said Taiwan is seeking 66 additional F-16 fighter jets.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Taipei, June 6: Taiwan has confirmed it has asked to purchase more than 100 US tanks, along with air defence and anti-tank missile systems in a major potential arms sale that could worsen frictions between Washington and Beijing.

The Defence Ministry says 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. It says Thursday the request is proceeding "as normal."

The US is the main supplier of defensive weapons to Taiwan, which China considers its own territory. The M1 Abrams would mark a significant upgrade from the aging tanks Taiwan's army now uses. Reports have also said Taiwan is seeking 66 additional F-16 fighter jets. </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 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.
The Trump administration informs Congress of a potential $2 billion arms deal with Taiwan that includes the M1A2, the U.S.'s latest main battle tank, and a resupply of anti-air and anti-armor weapons. China's foreign ministry says it is "severely concerned with" and "firmly against" the plan.