Washington’s $1.83 billion arms deal with Taiwan this week drew ire from Beijing as China summoned the US charge d’affaires to protest

BEIJING (China) – US administration has authorized a $1.83 billion weapons sale to Taiwan, despite strong opposition from China.

The deal is United State’s first major arms sale to Taiwan in four years, in a program that has seen $16.7 billion in arms sales over the years.

The US State Department said it intended to sell Taipei U.S. Navy guided Oliver Hazard Perry class missile frigates, Javelin anti-tank missiles, TOW 2B anti-tank missiles, AAV-7 amphibious assault vehicles, anti-aircraft and anti-ship systems, among a range of military equipment in its latest sales, according to David McKeeby, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.

“U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are guided by the Taiwan Relations Act and based on an assessment of Taiwan’s defense needs,” McKeeby said.

The White House said there was no change in the longstanding US “one China” policy. Past US weapons sales to Taiwan have attracted strong condemnation in China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province.

“Our longstanding policy on arms sales to Taiwan has been consistent across six different U.S. administrations,” he added. “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.”

Taiwan welcomed the announcement of the sale, calling it “a comprehensive display of America’s pledge to provide security to Taiwan,” according to a statement.

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

John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said this would “avoid extended periods in which fear of upsetting the US-China relationship may harm Taiwan’s defense capabilities.”

The sales come at a period of heightened tension between the United States and China over the South China Sea, where Washington has been critical of China’s building of man-made islands to assert expansive territorial claims.

“China staunchly opposes America’s sale of arms to Taiwan,” China’s foreign ministry said, adding the country would impose sanctions against any companies involved in the sale.

China summons US envoy as Obama signs off on latest purchase

China has summoned a senior US envoy to protest against Washington’s announcement that it will sell two warships to Taiwan as part of a new $2.5 billion ($US1.8 billion) arms deal.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang made “solemn representations” with Kaye Lee, the US charge d’affaires, on Wednesday regarding the sale, according to a statement on the foreign ministry’s website.

The ministry said that Beijing would impose sanctions on any companies involved in the sale, and warned Washington to cancel the deal to avoid causing further damage to Sino-US relations. “To safeguard our national interests, China has decided to take necessary measures, including imposing sanctions against the companies involved in the arms sale,” Zheng said, according to state news agency Xinhua.

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

Reed Foster, a military capabilities expert from consultancy IHS Aerospace, Defense & Security, said that the U.S. defense industry does little business with China so any action taken by Beijing was unlikely to have a big impact.

Although it has been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, China considers Taiwan a renegade province awaiting reunification. It regularly lashed out at Washington and other powers for their dealings with Taipei, which it labels ‘interference’ in Chinese domestic affairs.

The US weapons sale – the first to Taiwan in four years – came at an increasingly febrile time in East Asia, where China’s aggressive position on territorial disputes with its neighbours had raised anxiety levels in the US and among allies from Japan to the Philippines.