By Staff, Agencies

China swiftly condemned the United States’ approval of an $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan, the largest-ever weapons package for the island.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office, accused Washington of violating the “one China” principle and urged it to halt arms sales.

Fenglian also accused Taiwan’s leadership of attempting to turn the island into a “war porcupine,” warning that such a course would reduce its people to “cannon fodder.”

The $11.1 billion deal, announced on December 17–18, 2025, includes a range of advanced military systems aimed at bolstering Taiwan’s security capabilities.

The package includes HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, each worth over $4 billion, designed to enhance Taiwan’s long-range strike capabilities. It also provides Javelin and TOW anti-tank missile systems, valued at $375 million and $353 million respectively, and over $1.1 billion worth of ALTIUS-600 and ALTIUS-700M unmanned aerial vehicles.

Additional components include $96 million in spare parts for AH-1W SuperCobra helicopters, $91.4 million for maintaining Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and $1.01 billion for tactical mission network software, communications equipment, and related services.

This deal follows a $330 million sale in November and reflects Washington's ongoing commitment to arming Taiwan's military under the Trump administration.

Taiwan plans to raise its defense budget to NT$949.5 billion [$31.2B] in 2026, a 22.9% increase, with an extra $40B through 2033 for long-range weapons, drones, and the ‘Taiwan Dome’ air defense system.

It is worth noting that Beijing hasn’t announced a response yet but has previously punished US-Taiwan arms deals, including December 2024 sanctions on Boeing Insitu, Oceaneering, Raytheon-linked firms, and their executives.

In January 2025, China added 10 US defense firms to its “Unreliable Entities List” and 28 to its Export Control List, sending a political warning and potentially disrupting trade.