TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- The State Department announced on Thursday that its has approved an arms sale package worth US$1.42 billion to Taiwan, marking the first such weapons sale to the nation under the Trump administration, according to a Reuters report.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert announced to reporters that the Trump administration informed Congress of the proposed $1.42 billion arms package on Thursday.

The sale is comprised of seven items, including technical support for early warning radar, anti-radiation missiles, torpedoes and components for SM-2 missiles, according to a report from AP which cited a U.S. official who requested anonymity. A U.S. official told CNN that the package would specifically include the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon and MK 48 6AT Heavy Weight Torpedoes.

The U.S. Treasury on the same day announced that it would block China's Bank of Dandong, which it claimed was acting as conduit for illegal North Korean financial transactions, as part of a new set of sanctions and other measures to ramp up pressure on North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program.

The sale weapons sale and yesterday's announcement on Wednesday (June 28) that the Senate voted in favor of resuming regular stops at Taiwanese ports by U.S. naval vessels, will surely anger Beijing, which considers Taiwan a renegade province that must be reunited with China.

The three announcements mark a abrupt departure from the Trump administration's policy thus far of seeking to appease China in order to gain assistance in pressuring the North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

The timing of the announcements are also interesting as they coincide with the first visit of China's President Xi Jinping to Hong Kong to mark 20 years of Communist Chinese control of the former British colony. The naval call announcement would seem to be partially in response to China's denial of a U.S. aircraft carrier's port visit in Hong Kong in May of last year. More broadly, the three announcements may be steps taken by the Trump administration to ratchet up pressure on Beijing to take more active steps to reign in its North Korean ally's nuclear program.

Nauert said that the arms sale package did not violate the Taiwan Relations Act that governs U.S. contacts with the country. "It shows, we believe, our support for Taiwan's ability to maintain a sufficient self-defense policy," Nauert told reporters. However, she added that, "There's no change, I should point out, to our 'one-China policy.'"

The previous U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, approved during the Obama administration in December 2015, was worth US$1.8 billion and included two decommissioned U.S. Navy frigates, minesweepers, Stinger missiles, and anti-armor and anti-tank missiles.

Despite approval from the State Department and Pentagon, former U.S. President Barack Obama pulled the plug on a US$1 billion arms deal to Taiwan in December of 2016, choosing to pass the buck to the next administration.