Taiwan is in the process of negotiating a new arms deal worth billions of dollars with the United States, Reuters news agency reported, citing unidentified sources. Meanwhile, the top US military commander in the Indo-Pacific, Adm. Samuel Paparo, has warned that Chinese military drills around Taiwan were actually “rehearsals” for an attack on the island.
Three sources familiar with the situation, who wished to stay anonymous due to the sensitivity of the topic, told Reuters that Taipei was “in talks with Washington” about an arms purchase worth between US$7 billion and US$10 billion and that the package could include coastal defense cruise missiles and high mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS.Taiwan’s ministry of defense declined to confirm the news but said Taipei was committed to strengthening national defense. Defense ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang told reporters in Taipei that all defense budgets follow government policy and that plans would be disclosed to the public when they had been finalized.
