In US, Taiwan’s Tsai says Washington to procure more arms

Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen, who is in the United States, says Washington has agreed to Taipei’s request for tanks and fighter jets to bolster its military, a move considered to be in open defiance of China, which views the self-ruled island as part of its territory.

Tsai announced the news speaking to Washington’s Heritage Foundation think tank via videolink on Wednesday while on a stopover in Hawaii, a US archipelago state in the Central Pacific, at the end of a Pacific tour.

She said Taipei had submitted new requests to Washington for M-1 Abrams tanks and F-16V fighter jets, which “would greatly enhance our land and air capabilities, strengthen military morale and show to the world the US commitment to Taiwan’s defense.”

Neighboring China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, and almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty under a policy known as “One China.”

The US, while formally recognizing Chinese sovereignty over the island, remains a close ally of Taipei, provides weapons to it, and maintains a de facto embassy in Taiwan, which anger Beijing.

PressTV-China ‘opposes any form of US relation with Taiwan’

China voices strong opposition to the official contacts and military relations between the United States and Taiwan.

Elsewhere in her remarks, Tsai claimed that mounting pressure from China on Taiwan to accept a “one country, two systems model” and Beijing’s attempts to change the cross-strait status quo underscored the need for Taiwan to “increase our self defense and deterrence capabilities.”

“Fortunately... Taiwan does not stand alone,” she said. “The United States’ commitment to Taiwan is stronger than ever.”

Only a small number of countries recognize Taiwan as a “sovereign” state.

Tsai said she felt the process of US arms sales to Taiwan had become less politicized, adding, “We are able to have frank discussions with the US on the right equipment for Taiwan’s defense and the US is responding positively to our request.”

She said funding the costly defense items would be managed via a special budget and Taiwan’s regular military budget would “increase based on challenges coming across the strait,” in a clear reference to China.

China believes that Tsai and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party are after pushing for the island’s formal independence, which is Beijing’s red line. The Chinese government has constantly warned Washington against any kind of relations with Taipei, whose ties with Beijing have been deteriorating May 2016, when Tsai assumed power as “president” and began challenging the “One China” principle.

Taiwan and the mainland separated amid a civil war in 1949. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Back in January, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that Beijing reserved the right to forcefully bring the island under its control but would strive to achieve peaceful “reunification.”

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