US Congress notified of possible 6.5 billion dollar Taiwan arms sales

The Pentagon notified Congress Friday of 6.5 billion dollars in possible arms sales to Taiwan that would include advanced interceptor missiles, Apache attack helicopters and submarine-launched missiles.

The Defense Security and Cooperation Agency said the proposed sales were aimed at improving Taiwan’s defenses and would not alter the basic military balance in the region.

It would end a year-long lull in US arms sales to Taipei, which has enjoyed improved relations between China since President Ma Ying-jeou was elected earlier this year on a platform of easing tensions with the mainland.

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“All foreign military sales are discussed and approved (based on) long established inter agency procedure, and we only recently finished that procedure with regard to these notifications for Taiwan,” a State Department official said.

The proposed sales would involve 330 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles worth up to 3.1 billion dollars, and 30 AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters worth 2.5 billion dollars.

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Taiwan has also asked to buy 31 UGM-84L submarine launched Harpoon anti-ship missiles valued at up to 200 million dollars.

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