president has been seeking to rein in North Korea.
U.S. State
Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters the administration had
told Congress of the seven proposed sales on Thursday.
"It's
now valued about $1.42 billion," she said.
The State
Department said the package included technical support for early warning radar,
high speed anti-radiation missiles, torpedoes and missile components.
Nauert said
the sales showed U.S. "support for Taiwan's ability to maintain a
sufficient self-defense capability," but there was no change to the United
States' long-standing "one China" policy, which recognizes Beijing
and not Taipei.
The United
States is the sole arms supplier to Taiwan, which China deems its own and has
never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its
control.
Beijing has
given Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen the cold shoulder since she took power last
year because she leads an independence-leaning ruling party and refuses to recognize
the "one China" policy.
On Friday,
Tsai's office said that her government will continue "to seek constructive
dialogue with Beijing, and promote positive developments in cross-strait
relations."
"(The
arms sale) increases Taiwan's confidence and ability to maintain the status quo
of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," Tsai's office tweeted.
Asked about
the sale at an event on Thursday evening in Washington, China's Ambassador Cui
Tiankai said the United States was "incorrigible" when it comes to
Taiwan, the official party paper the People's Daily reported on its website.
"But we
should still continue to instruct (them) and continue advancing on the right
track of China-U.S. relations because this is what truly fits with for both
countries' long term interests," the paper quoted Cui as saying.
The sale,
which requires congressional approval, would be the first to Taiwan under Trump
and the first since a $1.83 billion sale that former President Barack Obama
announced in December 2015, to China's dismay.
The previous
package included two navy frigates in addition to anti-tank missiles and amphibious
attack vehicles.
A State
Department official said the latest package primarily represented
"upgrades to existing defense capabilities aimed at converting current
legacy systems from analog to digital."
Taiwan's
defense ministry said the items would enhance air and sea combat capability and
early warning defenses. It said Taiwan and the United States would continue to
consolidate their security partnership to contribute to long-term stability in
the region.
STRONG
SUPPORT
In a strong
sign of congressional support, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee welcomed what he called the "long-overdue" arms
sale.
"Sales
of defensive weapons, based on Taiwan's needs, are a key provision of our
commitments as laid out by the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six
Assurances," said Rep. Ed Royce, referring to legislation and informal
guidelines that steer U.S. relations with Taiwan.
U.S.
officials said in March the administration was crafting a big arms sale to
Taiwan, but such talk died down as Trump sought to persuade Beijing to do more
to rein in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, an increasing threat to
the United States.
Earlier on
Thursday, China responded angrily and said it had protested to Washington after
a U.S. Senate committee approved a bill calling for the resumption of port
visits to Taiwan by the U.S. Navy for the first time since the United States
adopted a one-China policy in 1979.
The bill
also directs the Pentagon to help Taiwan develop an indigenous undersea warfare
program and recommends strengthened strategic cooperation with Taipei.
China's
Foreign Ministry spokesman said the bill was in violation of the principles of
U.S.-China relations and called on Washington to halt military drills with and
arms sales to Taiwan "to avoid further impairing broadly cooperative
China-U.S. relations."
U.S.
officials told Reuters this week that Trump - who alarmed Beijing after
assuming office by breaking with decades of precedent and talking to Taiwan's
president - was becoming increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction
on North Korea and trade.
According to
the officials, Trump is now considering trade actions against Beijing, despite
having heaped praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping after an April summit.
Also on Thursday,
Washington stepped up pressure on Beijing by imposing sanctions on two Chinese
citizens and a shipping company for helping North Korea's nuclear and missile
programs and accusing a Chinese bank of laundering money for Pyongyang.
Trump plans
to meet Xi again on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany next week, U.S.
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters
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