U.S. approves largest ever arms sale to Taiwan as tensions simmer around the island

The U.S. on Thursday approved its largest arms sale to Taiwan, at $11.15 billion, as the island faces growing threats from China and has been a subject of diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Tokyo.

The Taiwanese defense ministry said the sale — comprising artillery systems, antitank missiles, as well as spare parts for helicopters and anti-ship missiles — falls under the $40 billion supplementary defense budget announced by President Lai Ching-te in November.

Lai last month vowed to build up Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities in the face of growing threats from Beijing, seeking to achieve a high level of combat readiness by 2027. He also warned that China was aiming to seize the island by 2027.

Lai cautioned of an “unprecedented military buildup” by Beijing and “intensifying provocations in the Taiwan Strait, in the East and South China Seas, and across the Indo-Pacific.”

On Wednesday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a post on X that China’s Fujian aircraft carrier sailed through the Taiwan Strait, adding its armed forces had “monitored the situation and responded.”

In response to Taiwan’s supplementary budget, a spokesperson for Chinese foreign ministry said at a press briefing that “the Democratic Progressive Party’s plan of resisting reunification and seeking independence using armed forces is doomed to fail,” referring to Taiwan’s ruling party.

China has been piling pressure on Taipei and has conducted several military drills off the coast of the island over the past few years, issuing stern warnings over Taiwan’s “provocations for independence.”

Beijing considers democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and Chinese President Xi Jinping regards its reunification with the mainland “a historical inevitability.” Taiwan rejects those claims.

Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Matt Gertken, chief geopolitical strategist at BCA Research, said that the U.S. move was President Donald Trump’s way of “restoring some deterrence to Taiwan,” while continuing to negotiate on trade with China.

“So he’s saying to China, we’re willing to trade. We’re not going to cut off your semiconductors completely, but we’re not going to let you attack Taiwan,” Gertken added.

The U.S. package, reportedly the biggest on record, comprises 82 HIMARS rocket artillery systems and related equipment worth $4.05 billion, including 420 ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers, as well as unmanned surveillance systems and military software.

It also includes 60 self-propelled M109A7 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4 billion, as well as Javelin and TOW anti-tank missiles worth more than $700 million.

The U.S. does not have a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan and is not obligated to defend the island.

However, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act states the U.S. “will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services” as may be necessary to “enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.”

In November, China unleashed fiery rhetoric against Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, after she said that an attempt to seize Taiwan by force could trigger the intervention of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.

Beijing, which has called on Takaichi to withdraw her statement and apologize, has advised its citizens not to visit Japan as it continues to be locked in a diplomatic spat with Tokyo.

— CNBC’s Anniek Bao contributed to this report.