The Trump administration’s approval of an $11.1 billion arms sale will help Taiwan gear up for, and therefore deter, a potential Chinese attack. It’s an overdo correction after months of policy changes that favored Beijing over Taipei.
The package, which has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, will be one of the largest-ever arms sales to the island democracy. It includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which Ukraine has proved are critical when fighting a better armed and more populous enemy. This helps add coherence to U.S. policy toward the looming threat the Chinese Communist Party poses to Taiwan.
The Taiwanese have grown more serious about self-defense. The country’s president announced last month, in these pages, that the island’s defense spending would rise to 5 percent of gross domestic product by 2030 and that a “$40 billion supplementary defense budget” would focus on enhancing Taiwan’s “asymmetrical capabilities.” That’s military jargon for relatively cheap, mobile and survivable weapons designed to deter a stronger adversary.
Rather than trying to match China’s planes or ships, Taiwan would use missiles, drones, mines and cyber attacks to fight back. It shows the island can respond to criticism and adapt, after years of purchasing impressive but fundamentally unimportant weapons systems.
Still, while Beijing’s frustration with the arms sale is nothing to lament, there is understandable confusion on both sides of the Pacific. The Trump administration is ramping up tensions in one area while extending the hand of friendship in others. On Tuesday, the administration suspended additional tariffs on China’s semiconductor industry for an additional 18 months, in an attempt to further relax trade tensions.
A yet-to-be determined tax will be imposed on semiconductors in June 2027, despite national security concerns. Earlier this month, Trump greenlit the export of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, ignoring national security concerns. When it comes to trade, at least rhetorically, the president has acted too often as though the Chinese are less of a threat than the Canadians.
This arms package would surpass what the Biden administration provided Taiwan, but money only goes so far. A friend to all, after all, is a friend to none.
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