After the Biden administration approved three arms sales to Taiwan worth more than $1.1 billion on Friday (September 2), China announced on Saturday that it would take countermeasures.
Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, issued a series of tweets on September 3, saying that US arms sales to Taiwan will seriously endanger Sino-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. He called on the United States to immediately rescind its decision to agree to arms sales.
The arms sale is the biden administration's largest to date and still needs approval from the U.S. Congress. The U.S. State Department on Friday approved three new arms sales proposals under the "Military Sales Abroad" (FMS) program and formally notified Congress on the same day.
The three arms sales programs are contractor logistics support for the Taiwan Surveillance Radar Project (SRP) with a total value of up to $665.4 million; up to 60 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles and related equipment, with a total value of up to $355 million; up to 100 SIDEWINDER air-to-air tactical missiles and related equipment. The total value is up to $85.6 million.
Unless Congress takes opposition action within 30 days through a joint resolution or legislation between the Senate and the House of Representatives, the executive's proposal for arms sales to Taiwan will automatically take effect. A U.S. State Department spokesman told VOA that in 30 days, the United States will finalize the three arms sales with the Taiwan authorities.
