Washington, April 5 (CNA) The United States government has approved its third arms package to Taiwan since President Joe Biden took office, a US$95-million sale to Taiwan of equipment and services aimed at maintaining Taiwan's U.S.-made missile defense system.
According to the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in a statement Tuesday, the sale will involve "contractor technical assistance and related equipment" for the Patriot missile air defense system.
It will include training, planning, fielding, deployment, operation, maintenance, and sustainment of the Patriot system, associated equipment, and logistics support elements, as well as ground support equipment and spare parts, the DSCA statement said.
"The proposed sale will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability and military balance" in the region, and help "sustain the recipient's missile density and ensure readiness for air operations," it said.
Taiwan thanked the United States for its approval of the latest arms package.
With the sale, the U.S. is honoring its commitment to support Taiwan with defensive articles under the Taiwan Relations Act and the "Six Assurances," Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a statement, in which it expressed its "sincere gratitude" for the deal.
The latest defensive arms sale showed the U.S.' determination to boost Taiwan's self-defense capabilities, the MND said, and it pledged that Taiwan will continue to solidify its security ties with the U.S. to jointly preserve regional and cross-strait peace.
The package is likely to be formally confirmed by the U.S. Congress after a month, according to the MND.
This latest sale under the Biden administration "fully demonstrated the U.S. government's high regard for Taiwan's defense capabilities," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a separate statement.
It was the third arms package offered since Biden took office in January 2021.
The first one, in August 2021, was for US$750 million for 40 Paladin M109A6 self-propelled howitzers.
The second one, in February, was a US$100 million package that included equipment and services to support participation in the Patriot International Engineering Services Program (IESP) and Field Surveillance Program (FSP) for five years.
