Trump Officials Announce More Than $11 Billion in Arms Sales for Taiwan

The move may reassure China hawks who are uncertain about the president’s commitment to the self-governing democracy.

The Trump administration asked Congress on Wednesday to approve an arms package for Taiwan valued at more than $11 billion, in what would be a huge injection of military aid to the self-governing democratic island bracing for a long-feared invasion by China.

If approved by Congress, as is likely given Taiwan’s strong bipartisan support, the package would exceed the $8.4 billion in arms sold to Taiwan during the Biden administration, according to figures recently compiled by the research arm of Britain’s House of Commons. And it would be equivalent to more than half the $18.3 billion in arms sold to Taiwan during President Trump’s first term in office.

The size of the proposal is likely to reassure China hawks in Washington who have grown uneasy about Mr. Trump’s commitment to defending Taiwan as he seeks to cut trade and economic deals with Beijing.

The arms sales cleared by the State Department include more than $4 billion each for high mobility artillery rocket systems, known as HIMARS, and M109A7 self-propelled howitzers. The package would also include more than $700 million for Javelin and TOW anti-armor missiles, as well as Altius kamikaze drones made by the military technology company Anduril.

In a statement on its website, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the proposed sale would serve U.S. interests by supporting Taiwan’s “continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.”

Without explicitly mentioning Beijing, Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement that the weapons package would provide “strong deterrence and deterrence combat capabilities” and “asymmetric combat advantages.”

The Chinese government condemned the announced arms sales as a violation of its claimed sovereignty over Taiwan. China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has been trying to stabilize relations with Washington ahead of Mr. Trump’s planned visit to Beijing in April. But the United States’ continued military support for Taiwan remains a source of friction.

The latest arms sales “will only hasten pushing Taiwan toward the perils of war,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, told a regular news briefing in Beijing. The issue of Taiwan, he added, is a “red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations.”

U.S. officials and China experts have warned for years that Mr. Xi appears determined to regain control of Taiwan, and has been organizing his military for a potential invasion in the coming years.

Washington does not formally recognize Taiwan as a country, but has supplied it with advanced weapons for decades as a close security and economic partner. The United States maintains a policy of “strategic ambiguity” regarding whether it would come to the island’s defense in the event of an attack.

The announcement of the package came while Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, is seeking to push through Taiwan’s annual budget as well as an additional $40 billion special budget for increased spending on military hardware up to 2033.

Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party, which, together with a smaller opposition party, controls the majority in Taiwan’s legislature, has criticized Mr. Lai’s proposals, citing issues such as delayed deliveries of previous weapons orders and wasteful projects, and could delay or even block the proposed increases in military spending.

But politicians on both sides in Taiwan have indicated that they expect Mr. Lai’s proposed special budget to pass eventually, possibly after changes demanded by the opposition.

“Taiwan will also continue to deepen cooperation with the United States and other security partners, steadily enhancing its defense capabilities and resilience,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement about the latest arms purchases from the United States.

Chris Buckley contributed reporting from Taipei.

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