China Urges US to ‘Revoke Arms Sales Plan’ With Taiwan on News of $120 Million Deal for Ship Parts

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the Pentagon’s office for foreign military sales, announced on Wednesday that the State Department had given the go-ahead for a $120 million sale of “ship spare parts, ship system spare parts, and related equipment” to Taiwan. The deal still has to be approved by Congress and would go through the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), Taipei’s de facto embassy in Washington, DC, due to the unofficial nature of US-Taiwan relations.

Formally, the US recognizes the People’s Republic of China in Beijing as the sole legitimate government of all of China, and that Taiwan is a Chinese province in rebellion - what Beijing calls the One China policy. However, in reality, the US continues to funnel weapons to the Taiwanese government so it can defend its autonomy from Beijing - an action China regards as interference in its internal affairs and a violation of its sovereignty.

“US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region seriously violate the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US joint communiqués, especially the August 17 Communiqué, gravely undermine China’s sovereignty and security interests and severely harm China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters on Thursday.

“The US should abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US joint communiqués, revoke the arms sales plan, and stop arms sales to and military ties with Taiwan,” he added. “China will continue to take resolute and strong measures to firmly defend its sovereignty and security interests.”

The deal is the fourth since US President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

The US has supplied Taiwan with some more advanced weapons, such as F-16V “Viper” 4.5-generation fighter jets, but mostly sells them older weapons it is preparing to retire or replace. These constitute a significant part of Taiwan’s naval forces, including four Kee Lung-class destroyers (formerly Kidd-class); six Chi Yang-class frigates (formerly Knox-class); several tugs and minesweepers; and nine amphibious vessels.

Taiwan has also built eight Chen Kung-class frigates, which are Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships built under license, and two more which are former Perry-class ships bought from the US Navy. The island also has the curious distinction of keeping two ancient US submarines from World War II in service for training purposes, which are the longest-serving subs in the world.

The US has sharply increased its support for Taiwan since 2016, when several events increased tensions, including the election of pro-independence President Tsai Ing-Wen in Taiwan and fiercely anti-China hawk Donald Trump in the United States. The US soon designated China its primary adversary in what it calls “great power competition,” deeming Beijing a “malign actor” that intends to destroy the “rules-based international order.”

Since Russia launched its special operation in Ukraine in February, the US has used the situation to justify more sales to Taiwan and to try to reshape the island’s defensive plans. It was already in doubt as to whether Washington would come to Taiwan’s aid if China launched an operation to reunite Taiwan with the mainland, but now it is insisting Taipei only buy weapons that can be used for guerrilla warfare or asymmetric defense, such as shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons and shore-launched anti-ship missiles.