• The US announces a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan.
• Washington pledges to continue bolstering the island’s defences.
• China has threatened Washington with “counter-measures” in light of the rising tensions.

In light of the rising tensions with Beijing, which has threatened Washington with “counter-measures,” the United States on Friday announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan. Washington pledged to continue bolstering the island’s defences.

The transaction takes place a month after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a confrontational visit to the self-governing democracy, which prompted mainland China to undertake a military display that might have been a practise invasion.

The package, which is the largest approved for Taiwan under President Joe Biden’s administration, includes $665 million for contractor support to maintain and upgrade a Raytheon early radar warning system that has been in use since 2013 and would alert Taiwan to an impending assault.

In the event that China launches a maritime assault, Taiwan will also spend about $355 million to purchase 60 Harpoon Block II missiles, which can track and sink invading warships.

More than 100 Sidewinder missiles, a staple of Western forces for their air-to-air lethality, are also included in the arsenal at a cost of $85.6 million.

One day prior to the announcement, Taiwanese forces shot down an unidentified commercial drone as part of a sudden flurry of enigmatic incursions that alarmed the island in the wake of Beijing’s earlier display of force, which it claimed involved the firing of ballistic missiles over Taipei, the capital.

China urged the US to “immediately rescind” the arms sales, describing Taiwan as a “inalienable” part of its territory.

“It sends wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and severely jeopardizes China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington.

“China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary counter-measures in light of the development of the situation,” he said.

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