China threatens retaliation over US deals to supply Taiwan with arms

A spokesman for the foreign ministry says Beijing reserves the right to take ‘legitimate and necessary’ steps over the plans

Congress is considering proposals to supply the island with rockets, missiles and jet equipment and four more deals are in the pipeline

2-MIN READ2-MIN

One of the proposed US arms deals would supply Taiwan with the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. Photo: EPA

Published: 10:00pm, 13 Oct 2020Updated: 10:27am, 14 Oct 2020

Beijing has threatened to retaliate over US arms sales to Taiwan, saying the advanced weapons it is supplying are a serious risk to its security.

The foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it would react in a “legitimate and necessary” way to three deals that the White House has sent to Congress for approval.

“The United States should immediately cancel the planned weapon sales to Taiwan, stop any arms deals and cut off their military ties,” ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

In July China said it would impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin for its role in a US$620 million deal to upgrade Taiwan’s Patriot surface-to-air missiles system.

A US made F-16V fighter moves during a military exercises in Chiayi County, Taiwan in January. Photo: AP

Congress is reviewing three deals to supply the island with Lockheed Martin’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, Boeing’s SLAM-ER long-range missiles and external sensor pods for F-16 jets, according to Reuters.

The White House is also considering four other arms deals to supply combat drones, other pilotless aerial vehicles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and underwater mines.