US Approves Second Arms Sale to Taiwan... China Strongly Protests

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] China strongly opposed the United States' second approval of arms sales to Taiwan.

According to Taiwanese media on the 8th, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense announced that the U.S. government has approved the sale of a $100 million (approximately 120 billion KRW) Patriot missile project service to Taiwan.

The U.S. government had previously approved arms sales worth 900 billion KRW, including self-propelled artillery, to Taiwan in August last year.

The Patriot, a low-altitude missile defense system, along with Taiwan's version of THAAD, the Tien Kung 3 missile, is a core air defense weapon for Taiwan.

Taiwan currently possesses about 380 Patriot 3 (PAC-3) missiles. It is known that Taiwan has deployed Patriot missiles in 12 locations, including the capital Taipei.

In response, China expressed strong opposition. Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a regular briefing that day, "We urge the United States to immediately withdraw its arms sales plan and cease military relations with Taiwan."

Spokesperson Zhao emphasized, "This seriously undermines China's sovereignty and security interests, severely damages China-U.S. relations and the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.