US approves $1.8 billion weapons sale to Taiwan

[Stevicus]

US approves $1.8bn weapons sale to Taiwan

The US has approved arms sales to Taiwan worth around $1.8bn (£1.4bn), in a move that is likely to increase tensions with China.

The Pentagon said the deal comprised three weapons systems, including rocket launchers, sensors and artillery.

Taiwan, which considers itself a country, is seen as a renegade province by China.

Tensions have increased in recent years and Beijing has not ruled out the use of force to take the island back.

Last week, US national security adviser Robert O'Brien said that while he did not believe China was ready to invade Taiwan, the island needed to "fortify itself" for the future.

Taiwan's defence ministry said the weapons would help it "build credible combat capabilities and strengthen the development of asymmetric warfare".

China is not happy about this.

The deal includes 135 precision-guided cruise missiles, as well as mobile light rocket launchers and air reconnaissance pods that can be attached to fighter jets.

The BBC's Taiwan correspondent Cindy Sui says that under President Donald Trump, the US has sold significantly more weapons to Taiwan than before.

The island has also been seeking backing from the current administration, which, unlike its predecessors, seems willing to challenge the delicate balance Washington has maintained for decades with China and Taiwan, says our correspondent.

China's Foreign Ministry says the arms deal would likely have a major impact on its relationship with the US and that it would respond as necessary, according to Reuters news agency.

In recent months, the US has been intensifying its outreach to Taiwan. In August, the highest-ranking US politician to visit Taiwan in decades met the island's president, Tsai Ing-wen.

Beijing strongly criticised the meeting, warning the US "not to send any wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' elements to avoid severe damage to China-US relations".

China has also stepped up military drills that it presents domestically as rehearsals for a future invasion of Taiwan, though experts say a conflict is not imminent.

Just a few questions for the Peanut Gallery:

Should China throw in the towel and just give up on trying to reclaim Taiwan? Should the Taiwanese give in to China? Should the US stop supporting Taiwan? Or (an even bolder move) should the US reverse the decision to recognize Mainland China and return to recognizing Taiwan as the "true" Chinese government?

 

[Revoltingest]

I prefer an independent Taiwan.

 

[Quetzal]

Preface: I am not as informed on this topic as I should be. Most of my commentary is based on my limited understanding, but I would like to try anyway.

Should China throw in the towel and just give up on trying to reclaim Taiwan?

Ideally? Yes. Recent political developments point to the idea that Taiwan is not as interested in a Chinese unification. They see themselves as an independent nation. My question is this: what is the alternative? Any military invasion of Taiwan by the Chinese is not an isolated incident and will be met with international resistance. The price doesn't seem worth it for China.

Should the US stop supporting Taiwan?

That's tough. The original reason for supporting Taiwan by the US goes back to the Cold War, I think? Is this the old guard of the US hoping to stick it to the Communists? I guess I am not sure why the US is risking not only conflict with China but also Russia. If push comes to shove, I have no problem seeing the Russians assisting China. Again, why are we here, exactly?

Or (an even bolder move) should the US reverse the decision to recognize Mainland China and return to recognizing Taiwan as the "true" Chinese government?

Eesh, I don't think so. This would be a direct threat to the current Chinese government. We are already on thin ice with them and such a move might send us to through it.

 

[Cooky]

China is not happy about this.

China has nearly zero war games experience... their army is really good at marching in straight lines,, but have no field experience. The U.S. armed forces are finely tuned professionals in all aspects.

...What China likes or doesn't like makes no difference.

 

[MNoBody]

 

[Quetzal]

China has nearly zero war games experience... their army is really good at marching in straight lines,, but have no field experience. The U.S. armed forces are finely tuned professionals in all aspects.

...What China likes or doesn't like makes no difference.

Their economic position says otherwise.

 

[exchemist]

US approves $1.8bn weapons sale to Taiwan



China is not happy about this.





Just a few questions for the Peanut Gallery:

Should China throw in the towel and just give up on trying to reclaim Taiwan? Should the Taiwanese give in to China? Should the US stop supporting Taiwan? Or (an even bolder move) should the US reverse the decision to recognize Mainland China and return to recognizing Taiwan as the "true" Chinese government?

None of the above. Resist all temptations to "solve" anything. History shows us that such attempts often blow up in the faces of their advocates.

Just carry on as now, hinting that any attempt to seize Taiwan against its will may be met with US military force. Let it run and try to outlast the current China regime, as we did in the Cold War in Europe.

 

[MNoBody]

man cannot afford conflict......
it all ends badly.
we must find peaceful resolution to the conflicts.
this begins in each one
charity begins at home [and logically extends out from there]

 

[The Hammer]

US approves $1.8bn weapons sale to Taiwan



China is not happy about this.





Just a few questions for the Peanut Gallery:

Should China throw in the towel and just give up on trying to reclaim Taiwan? Should the Taiwanese give in to China? Should the US stop supporting Taiwan? Or (an even bolder move) should the US reverse the decision to recognize Mainland China and return to recognizing Taiwan as the "true" Chinese government?

But Gods forbid we get a CoV-19 relief package for the rest of us that actually live in the US.

 

[Cooky]

Their economic position says otherwise.

I'm willing to break that, regardless of the so called "consequences". India could easily take their place.

 

[Cooky]

None of the above. Resist all temptations to "solve" anything. History shows us that such attempts often blow up in the faces of their advocates.

Just carry on as now, hinting that any attempt to seize Taiwan against its will may be met with US military force. Let it run and try to outlast the current China regime, as we did in the Cold War in Europe.

Remember Neville Chamberlain?

 

[epronovost]

Taiwan should claim its independance. Independance is actually a very popular opinion within its population, supported by over 70% of the population bellow 35 years old and slightly above 50% for the general population. China must abandon the idea that Taiwan belongs to it. The CCP has never controlled to the island and the locals aren't interested in it. Taiwan, much like South Korea, has made huge strides toward democracy and can now be qualified as a proper democracy and they should be able to count on the US and other western democracies to defend it against communits China menaces.

 

[MNoBody]

since the dawn of the nuclear era, ideas of national sovereignty are merely indulged.
social evolution at a snail's pace...... eternally tedious.

 

[exchemist]

Remember Neville Chamberlain?

Remember also George W Bush.......who said remember Neville Chamberlain.

 

[Twilight Hue]

US approves $1.8bn weapons sale to Taiwan



China is not happy about this.





Just a few questions for the Peanut Gallery:

Should China throw in the towel and just give up on trying to reclaim Taiwan? Should the Taiwanese give in to China? Should the US stop supporting Taiwan? Or (an even bolder move) should the US reverse the decision to recognize Mainland China and return to recognizing Taiwan as the "true" Chinese government?

We are under treaty to protect Taiwan and if freedom means anything, to keep Taiwanese out of the communists clammy grip is a very good thing.

 

[Quetzal]

I'm willing to break that, regardless of the so called "consequences". India could easily take their place.

Are you speaking for the entire world? Because the global economy would almost certainly collapse.

 

[Stevicus]

We are under treaty to protect Taiwan and if freedom means anything, to keep Taiwanese out of the communists clammy grip is a very good thing.

Actually, we have no treaty with Taiwan, as indicated in the article linked in the OP:

While the US does sell Taiwan arms, and has an implicit security guarantee, it does not have a formal defence treaty with Taiwan as it does with Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.

 

[Watchmen]

But Gods forbid we get a CoV-19 relief package for the rest of us that actually live in the US.

There’s been a couple relief packages in the trillions. The relief package dwarfs this sale.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Actually, we have no treaty with Taiwan, as indicated in the article linked in the OP:

Seems your right. The treaty looks like it expired in the 80s.

There is a bill that has been introduced though. Hopefully it will pass.


Text - S.3936 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Taiwan Defense Act

 

[Tambourine]

Taiwan should claim its independance. Independance is actually a very popular opinion within its population, supported by over 70% of the population bellow 35 years old and slightly above 50% for the general population. China must abandon the idea that Taiwan belongs to it. The CCP has never controlled to the island and the locals aren't interested in it. Taiwan, much like South Korea, has made huge strides toward democracy and can now be qualified as a proper democracy and they should be able to count on the US and other western democracies to defend it against communits China menaces.

Claiming independence would be the one thing bringing Taiwan on a collision course with China, which is currently the island's primary import, export, and investment partner. On the other hand, allowing both the Communists and the KMT to cling to the political fiction of eventual reunification at some point in the unspecified future ensures continued peaceful coexistence between the two.

As for democracy, nobody in the West gave a crap when the KMT murdered or disappeared tens of thousands of alleged "communists" during its early years of consolidating power, so I doubt that Taiwanese democracy in and of itself is a meaningful motivator for any Western country in existence to leap to the defense of a country that nobody recognizes as legitimate.