China claims the entire island as its own territory and has threatened to take it by force if necessary
The US Senate has approved billions of dollars in aid for Taiwan to deal with the threat of a Chinese invasion, but China has warned that the money puts Taiwan’s democracy in a very “dangerous situation”.
China has warned that the latest US military aid package to Taiwan is pushing the self-ruled island republic into a very “dangerous situation”, according to the mirror.
The Senate approved $95 billion in military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Tuesday after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States is in foreign wars. The package included $8 billion for Taiwan to counter the threat of an invasion by China, which claims the entire island as its own territory and has threatened to take it by force if necessary.
The mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the aid “gravely violates” US commitments to China and “sends the wrong message to Taiwan separatist forces about independence.” Bureau spokesman Zhu Fenglian added that Taiwan’s pro-independence ruling Democratic Progressive Party is willing to “become a pawn for outside forces to use Taiwan to contain China, putting Taiwan in a dangerous situation.”
On Tuesday, Taiwan’s President-elect Lai Tsing-te told a US congressional delegation that the aid package would “strengthen deterrence of authoritarianism in the Western Pacific alliance chain” and “help ensure cross-strait peace and stability of Taiwan and will also boost confidence in the region.”
The package has had broad support from Congress since President Joe Biden first asked for the money last summer. But congressional leaders have faced strong opposition from a growing number of conservatives who question US involvement in foreign wars and argue that Congress should focus on increasing immigration at the US-Mexico border.
Taiwan has signed multibillion-dollar contracts with the US for the latest generation F-16V fighter jets, M1 Abrams main battle tanks and the HIMARS missile system, which the US has also supplied to Ukraine.
Taiwan is also expanding its own defense industry, building submarines and training aircraft. Next month, it plans to commission its third and fourth domestically designed and built stealth corvettes to counter the Chinese navy as part of an asymmetric warfare strategy.
China launches daily incursions into waters and airspace around Taiwan by navy ships and warplanes.
However, only two People’s Liberation Army Air Force aircraft and seven Navy ships were seen operating in areas around Taiwan from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning, possibly as a result of heavy rain and low visibility during the night along the west coast of the island in the direction of China.
In times of heightened tension, China has launched dozens of such missions in a 24-hour period, many of which cross the central line in the Taiwan Straits separating the sides or enter Taiwan’s air defense reconnaissance zone.
Tags: Chilling China warning military aid Taiwan pushes island dangerous situation
