‘Absolutely Intolerable’: China’s Military Responds to US Military Aid for Taiwan, Troop Deployments

On Tuesday, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) responded to US plans to provide Taiwan with $500 million in unprecedented military aid and reports that said hundreds of US troops have been deployed to the island, warning it will “firmly crush attempts at external interference.”

Taiwan’s defense minister recently said that Washington and Taipei are in talks about the US providing $500 million in “free” weapons. The arms will be sent using the Presidential Drawdown Authority, the same authority President Biden has been using to arm Ukraine, which allows him to ship weapons straight from US military stockpiles. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed on Tuesday that the Pentagon plans to send arms to Taiwan using the PDA soon.

Since Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979, the US has sold weapons to Taiwan but never provided them free of charge. Taiwanese media also recently reported that about 200 US troops have been deployed to Taiwan to assist in training, marking the largest known US military presence in Taiwan in decades.