Taiwan has thanked the United States after the Department of State approved the possible sale of equipment and services to Taiwan in support of its Patriot missiles program, a deal expected to be worth US$100 million.

With the sale, the U.S. is honoring its commitment to support Taiwan with defensive articles under the Taiwan Relations Act and the “Six Assurances,” Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a statement Tuesday and expressing its “sincere gratitude” for the deal.

Washington’s latest defensive arms sale shows its determination to boost Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities, the MND said, and it pledged that Taiwan will continue to solidify its security ties with the U.S. to jointly preserve regional and cross-strait peace.

According to the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the US$100 million sale will involve equipment and services to support participation in the Patriot International Engineering Services Program (IESP) and Field Surveillance Program (FSP) for five years.

It will include engineering services support, designed to sustain, maintain, and improve the Patriot Air Defense System, the DSCA said in announcing the sale.

The package is likely to be formally confirmed by the U.S. Congress after a month, according to the MND.

It was the second arms package offered since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. The first one, in August 2021, was for US$750 million for 40 Paladin M109A6 self-propelled howitzers.

This second sale under the Biden administration “fully demonstrated the U.S. government’s high regard for Taiwan’s defense capabilities,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a separate statement.

Amid increasing Chinese aggression, Taiwan will continue to improve its defensive capabilities and, through close security cooperation with the U.S., maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait and contribute to the long-term peace, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, MOFA said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel