China has denounced the United States’ latest military assistance package to Taiwan, asserting that such funding is pushing the self-governing island republic into a ‘dangerous situation.’ The U.S. Senate recently approved $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, following protracted delays and contentious debates over the extent of U.S. involvement in foreign wars. The package includes $8 billion earmarked for Taiwan, aimed at countering the threat of invasion by China, which claims the entire island as its sovereign territory and has threatened to use force if necessary to reclaim it.
The mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office has vehemently condemned the aid package, stating that it ‘seriously violates’ U.S. commitments to China and ‘sends the wrong signal to Taiwan independence separatist forces.’ Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian further accused Taiwan’s ruling pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, which recently secured a third four-year presidential term in January, of being willing to ‘become a pawn for external forces to use Taiwan to contain China, bringing Taiwan into a dangerous situation.’
In contrast, Taiwan’s President-elect Lai Ching-te has welcomed the aid package, expressing that it will ‘strengthen the deterrence against authoritarianism in the West Pacific ally chain’ and ‘help ensure peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and also boost confidence in the region.’ The package has garnered widespread congressional support since President Biden initially requested the funding last summer. However, congressional leaders have faced significant opposition from an increasing number of conservatives who question U.S. involvement in foreign wars and advocate for Congress to prioritize addressing the surge in migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The package encompasses a wide range of equipment and services intended to maintain and upgrade Taiwan’s military hardware. Additionally, Taiwan has inked multi-billion dollar contracts with the U.S. for the purchase of advanced F-16V fighter jets, M1 Abrams main battle tanks, and the HIMARS rocket system, which the U.S. has also supplied to Ukraine. Taiwan has also been bolstering its domestic defense industry, constructing submarines and trainer jets. Next month, it plans to commission its third and fourth domestically designed and built stealth corvettes to counter the Chinese navy as part of a strategy of asymmetrical warfare, in which a smaller force utilizes cutting-edge or unconventional tactics and weaponry to confront its larger adversary.
China routinely conducts military incursions into the waters and airspace around Taiwan, employing navy ships and warplanes. It has also sought to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, diminishing its formal diplomatic partnerships. However, between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, only two People’s Liberation Army Air Force planes and seven navy vessels were detected operating in areas surrounding Taiwan, potentially due to adverse weather conditions and low visibility along the island’s west coast facing China. During periods of heightened tensions, China has launched dozens of such missions over a 24-hour period, with many crossing the center line in the Taiwan Strait or entering Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
