Taiwan says in talks with US for emergency military aid

Beijing, May 8 (EFE).- Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said Monday that Taipei is talking with the US about the type of weapons it would need if Washington goes ahead with a plan to send $500 million worth of emergency military aid to the island.

Chiu said in a legislative hearing that US President Joe Biden’s administration was planning to send the weapons aid package under an emergency program it is using to help Ukraine against the Russian invasion, state-run news agency CNA reported.

Since January, Taiwan has held talks with the US on the weapon systems it would need if Washington decided to grant the package, Chen added, without providing further details.

Last year, the US approved a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan to boost its missile and radar system amid escalated tensions with China, which claims sovereignty over the self-ruled island.

Taiwan is one of the top sources of tension between China and the US, mainly because Washington is Taipei’s key arms supplier and could be its greatest military ally in the event of a war with China.

Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan, considering it a rebel province since Kuomintang nationalists withdrew there in 1949 after losing the civil war against the communists. EFE

jco/pd