US approves up to $11 bn arms sale to Taiwan, risking China backlash

The US has approved a package of arms sales to Taiwan worth up to $11 billion — one of its biggest ever — a move that will likely draw a sharp response from Beijing. 

The approvals announced late Wednesday by the State Department cover a broad range of equipment, including missiles, drones and artillery systems aimed at strengthening the democracy’s defenses. The package includes a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, valued at up to $4.05 billion, as well as self-propelled howitzers worth about $4 billion. 

The total value of the sales is up to $11.154 billion, according to a separate statement from Taiwan’s Defense Ministry. The State Department said that the final amount would be lower depending on factors such as budget authority and military needs. 

Taken together, the sale marks one of Washington’s most significant efforts in recent years to bolster Taiwan’s military capabilities to deter Chinese aggression. While President Donald Trump has at times been critical of Taiwan, saying while campaigning for his second term that it should pay the US for protection and also accusing it of stealing America’s chip industry, his administrations have also pushed for weapons deals. 

His first term was marked by 22 military sales notifications for Taiwan valued at $18.65 billion, including backlogged cases and funding for maintenance of existing systems. That compared to about $8.7 billion during the Biden administration, according to a 2024 report from the Cato Institute. 

The biggest Taiwan deal of his first term came in 2019: $8 billion for 66 F-16 fighters. Underscoring how long it often takes American weapons to appear in Taiwan —  delays partly due to supplying Ukraine in its fight against Russia — the jets are only this year rolling off US production lines. 

“This is a comprehensive package that includes different weapon systems, and will enhance Taiwan’s existing defense capabilities,” said Lin Ying-yu, an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies at Tamkang University in Taipei. 

US weapons sales to Taiwan annoy Beijing, and the latest package risks straining the US’s fragile relationship with China. It comes less than two months after Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Trump met in South Korea and agreed on a one-year truce in their trade spat. As part of that deal, Beijing ensured US access to rare earths critical to manufacturing everything from smartphones to missiles. 

In a call last month, Xi told Trump that Taiwan’s return to China was an “integral part of the postwar international order” — highlighting how Taiwan would remain a flashpoint in US-China relations. 

China’s Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The sale also lands as Taiwan and the US try to work out a trade pact of their own. Over the summer, Trump hit Taiwanese goods with a 20% levy, and talks in recent months have failed to yield a lower number, something both Japan and South Korea have already negotiated. 

China views Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be brought under its control, by force if necessary — a stance Taipei steadfastly rejects. It has stepped up military intimidation of the democracy of 23 million people since Lai took office in May 2024. 

Earlier this year, it held two days of military exercises that Beijing said tested the ability of the People’s Liberation Army to conduct a blockade and carry out “precision strikes” on simulated targets including ports and energy facilities. 

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has responded by trying to get the island better prepared for an emergency. This year Taiwan held its most expansive military exercises ever, announced plans for an expensive aerial defense system known as T-Dome and pledged to spend more on defense in 2026. 

Taipei has also said it would spend an extra $40 billion for military purposes from 2026 to 2033, though opposition lawmakers have put a hold on that plan.   

The HIMARS is the biggest part of the US sale. In May, Taiwan conducted its first live-fire test of the multiple-launch rocket system that has proven devastatingly effective in Ukraine’s efforts to defend against the Russian invasion.  

The platform can be equipped with missiles capable of striking targets up to 300 kilometers (some 185 miles) away — well into China’s southeastern coast, significantly enhancing Taiwan’s strike capabilities, both in range and precision. 

In its statement on the HIMARS sale, the State Department said it served US national security interests by helping Taiwan “modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.” 

The HIMARS would “assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region,” it added.

The latest package also sees the US for the first time sell Taiwan its Tactical Mission Network software at a cost of some $1.01 billion. The platform provides gives commanders real-time information about solders on the battlefield. 

The software “will allow different units within Taiwan’s armed forces to rapidly exchange information during operations and enhance battlefield situational awareness,” said Jack Chen, director of Formosa Defense Vision, an advocacy group. It would “help the military move closer to its goal of building a fully integrated common operational picture.”