Jubilation in Taipei as US Announces Taiwan Arms Sale

China has lodged a protest with the United States after the Obama administration on Wednesday announced a US$1.83bn arms deal with Taiwan.

Two decommissioned US Navy frigates, anti-tank missiles, amphibious assault vehicles, as well as surface-to-air missiles and other equipment are all included in the deal.

“While China has deployed new fighters, submarines, and missiles during the last four years, the U.S. has consistently refused to consider providing Taiwan access to similar platforms, or even aiding their indigenous development”, Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, said in a statement.

The U.S. said the deal does not indicate a change in U.S. policy toward China that would alter normalized relations between the two countries.

“The US pays heed to Taiwan’s need to defend itself and would like to help Taiwan maintain sufficient self-defence capabilities”, the island’s defence ministry statement said in a statement. “We believe our consistent policy has contributed to the security of Taiwan, and has also supported the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.

“It’s not a shock for China, it’s been like this for years”, said Xie Tao, a political science professor with Beijing Foreign Languages University.

He suggested that the cross-strait policy of the new government after Taiwan’s January 16 presidential election could determine the attitude of China.

“To safeguard our national interests, China has made a decision to take necessary measures, including imposing sanctions against the companies involved in the arms sale”, Zheng said, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The massive contract comes at a time of reconciliation between China and Taiwan, separated since 1949, while Washington remains concerned that Beijing is militarising part of the South China Sea.

It was not clear what impact sanctions might have on the companies, although in 2013 Lockheed Martin signed an agreement with the Thailand-based Reignwood Group to build an offshore plant to provide energy for a luxury resort on Hainan island in southern China.

However, previous Chinese sanction threats have not been followed up by Beijing.

“And because we are being consistent, there’s no other message that needs to be taken away from this, other than we take seriously our commitment to the defense needs of Taiwan”.

“This is something we’ve done through successive administrations and we’ve had an unending support for Taiwan being able to maintain its defensive capability”, Davis said.

U.S. Republican lawmakers said on Wednesday they were pleased the administration had authorized the sale but called for a more regular process for such transactions.

“It also highlights the fact that U.S.-Taiwan relations are indeed at their best ever”, the statement said. They’ve kept relations with both China and the US warm.