A US warship has sailed through the Taiwan Strait, mainland and Taipei officials said Friday, the first such passage since the island resoundingly re-elected its independence-leaning president. The warship was on a “routine mission” on Thursday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said, as it traversed the stretch of water that divides the self-ruling island from the authoritarian […]

China must accept that Taiwan is already independent, President Tsai Ing-wen has said, warning Beijing that any attempt to invade the democratic island would be “very costly”. Tsai won a second term over the weekend with a record 8.2 million votes, an outcome that was seen as a forceful rebuke of China’s ongoing campaign to […]

Washington: The US State Department on Tuesday approved the sale of 66 F-16 fighters to Taiwan, in a move expected to anger Beijing. Taiwan will get the latest version of the Lockheed Martin-built fighter, the F-16C/D Block 70, in the $8 billion deal, The State Department said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a […]

BEIJING: China warned Tuesday it would take unspecified countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. The comments come days after US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the US was now free to deploy the weapons following its withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces […]

Beijing: China demanded Tuesday that the United States “immediately cancel” a potential sale of $2.2 billion in arms to self-ruled Taiwan, including battle tanks and anti-aircraft missiles, adding fuel to tensions between the two powers. The US later shrugged off China’s complaints, responding that the equipment would contribute to “peace and stability” in Asia. The […]

DefenceTalkThe US State Department has approved the potential sale to Taiwan of $2.2 billion in arms, including Abrams tanks and Stinger missiles, the Pentagon said on Monday. The announcement is likely to anger Beijing, which views Taiwan as part of its territory and has previously expressed “serious concerns” about the possible sale. Congress has been […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-approves-possible-2-2-billion-arms-sale-to-taiwan-72371/

DefenceTalkChina resolutely oppose the recent $500 million military deal between the United States and Taiwan, calling the move “a complete mistake” and “very dangerous”, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said on Wednesday. The new deal, approved by the US State Department on April 15, is currently being reviewed by Congress. It consists […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-voices-fierce-opposition-to-us-arms-deal-with-taiwan-72274/

DefenceTalkTaiwan has made a formal request to the United States for new fighter jets to defend itself against increasing Chinese threats, Deputy Defence Minister Shen Yi-ming told reporters Thursday. “We made the request to purchase (fighter jets) because China has been increasing its military strength and we are starting to have an imbalance of power […]https://www.defencetalk.com/taiwan-asks-us-for-new-fighter-jets-to-defend-against-china-72192/

DefenceTalkTaiwan’s navy showed off its latest long-range surveillance drone on Thursday (Jan 24) as the island’s outgunned armed forces push to counter China’s increasingly muscular rhetoric and military exercises. China still sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, despite the two sides being ruled separately since they split in 1949 after a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/taiwan-unveils-new-drone-as-china-tensions-mount-72080/

DefenceTalkChina is on the cusp of fielding some of the world’s most advanced weapons systems — and in some cases already has surpassed its rivals, a Pentagon assessment released Tuesday found. An unclassified report by the Defense Intelligence Agency says Beijing has made enormous military strides in recent years, thanks partly to domestic laws forcing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-takes-lead-in-some-military-tech-pentagon-72040/