Biden signs off more arms for Taiwan

Beijing considers weapons shipments to the self-governing Chinese island provocative and escalatory

US President Joe Biden has authorized additional military support for Taiwan worth $567 million, days after US-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles started arriving on the self-governing Chinese island.

The new drawdown will pay for military equipment, education and training provided by the Pentagon to Taipei, according to a memorandum released by the White House. In April, the US Congress approved a multibillion-dollar foreign security assistance package, of which Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan were the primary beneficiaries.

Last Friday, the first batch of hundreds of Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles, the sale of which Washington approved in 2020, arrived at Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Port, according to local media.

The US intends to deliver up to 400 missiles, 100 launcher transport units, 25 radar trucks, and other equipment, which constitute 100 sets of the RGM-84L-4 coastal defense version of the missile system. The supplies are to be delivered in two phases, which are scheduled to be completed in 2026 and 2028. Taiwan’s military will build multiple new bases to host the American weapons, according to a procurement notice it issued earlier this year.

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Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the island, claims that the supply of weapons is one of the key destabilizing factors in cross-strait relations. Taiwan was the last refuge of nationalist forces during the 1940s civil war in China. It relies on American security guarantees and aid for its defense.

The stated goal of the Chinese government is peaceful reunification, but it has said it would use force should Taipei try to formally declare independence. Some factions in Washington are nudging officials in Taiwan towards such an escalation, officials in Beijing have claimed.

Last week, Biden also ordered nearly $8 billion in military aid for Ukraine, drawing on funds approved by Congress for spending before the end of the month. The White House unsuccessfully sought an extension of the presidential authority to tap into the money, before opting to drain the reserves before the deadline instead.