US ticks off sale of armed drones to Taiwan
The US has agreed to sell four armed MQ-9 Reaper drones to Taiwan, helping to boost the island’s defences as China threatens.
The US has agreed to sell four armed MQ-9 Reaper drones to Taiwan, helping to boost the island’s defences as China steps up its threats.
The $US600m ($838m) sale aids Taiwan’s “continuing efforts to modernise its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability,” the State Department said on Wednesday AEDT.
It will also assist in maintaining political stability and the military balance in the region, the department said. The sale covers four drones, ground stations and associated surveillance and communications equipment, but not the bombs or missiles usually associated with it.
Australia is purchasing an undisclosed number of SkyGuardian drones — a variant of the Reaper — under a $1.3bn acquisition.
The drones deal comes on the heel of several other major arms packages to Taiwan announced in recent weeks worth $US4.2bn, including potent Harpoon anti-ship missiles, air-launched SLAM-ER cruise missiles, air reconnaissance technology and mobile light rocket launchers.
“This is the 10th arms sales to Taiwan under President (Donald) Trump and the third time in two weeks the US government has supplied our country with major defensive weapons that will enable Taiwan to be more capable and confident in defending peace in the Taiwan Strait,” Taipei’s foreign ministry said.
The sales have angered Beijing, which regards Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it. Relations between Taiwan and China have plummeted to their worst levels in decades.
In 2016, Taiwan elected President Tsai Ing-wen, who views the island as an already sovereign state and not part of “one China”.
China cut off official communication and piled on economic, military and diplomatic pressure in response, although Ms Tsai was re-elected in a landslide in January. President Xi Jinping has become the most bellicose Chinese leader since Mao Zedong, describing the seizure of Taiwan as “inevitable”.
Chinese jets have been crossing into Taiwan’s defence zone at an unprecedented rate. While Taiwan has for decades relied on an implicit US security guarantee, Washington has urged it to strengthen its capabilities.
The US military has used the Reapers, made by General Atomics, for long, high-altitude reconnaissance missions and assassinations in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The sale is the first after Washington decided in July to diverge from the 1987 Missile Technology Control Regime, in which 35 countries agreed to restrict sales of unmanned weapons delivery systems.
The decision was to permit the export of medium-speed drones like the Reaper that had been blocked by the agreement.
AFP
More Coverage
Japan PM to call early election
New PM Shigeru Ishiba wants to shore up his mandate to push through policies that include beefing up spending on defence.
Nobel winner issues AI alert
After receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics, British-Canadian AI pioneer Brian Hinton, who shared the prize with John Hopfield, warned that the technology he helped create could lead to the subjugation of humanity.