China’s Foreign Ministry said last month when the possible sale was first reported that it was seriously concerned about U.S. arms sales to self-ruled Taiwan, and it urged the United States to halt the sales to avoid harming bilateral ties.
The sale of the weapons requested by Taiwan, including 108 General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) M1A2T Abrams tanks and 250 Stinger missiles, would not alter the basic military balance in the region, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.
DSCA notified Congress on Monday of the possible arms sale, which it said could also include mounted machine guns, ammunition, Hercules armored vehicles for recovering inoperative tanks, heavy equipment transporters and related support.