The U.S. dreams of Taiwan becoming the next Ukraine. 

The Biden administration announced last week that it will provide Taiwan with another $345 million worth of military aid through a presidential drawdown that reportedly includes portable air defense systems, missiles, and other radar equipment. 

The U.S. is providing Taipei with the weapons—free of charge—despite Taiwan being one of the world’s richest per capita, with the financial assets per individual at around $134,364 by the end of 2022, TASS, the Russian news outlet, reports, citing data from Allianz. 

The White House said in a statement that the package, which was authorized under the presidential drawdown authority approved by the warmongers in Congress, will also include military education and training. The administration did not officially itemize the weapons in the package. Several reports said the package contains MQ-9 Reaper drones.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, criticized the package and called on the U.S. to “stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait.”

China accused Washington of turning Taiwan into an “ammunition depot.”

“No matter how much of the ordinary people’s taxpayer money the … Taiwanese separatist forces spend, no matter how many U.S. weapons, it will not shake our resolve to solve the Taiwan problem. Or shake our firm will to realize the reunification of our motherland,” Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. 

Taiwan announced Sunday that it tracked six Chinese navy ships sailing off its coast.

The White House has insisted that there has been no change in policy and said the U.S. remains guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. Taiwan separated from mainland China during a civil war in 1949, but it’s still claimed by Beijing.

TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on how the U.S. hopes to turn Taiwan into a “porcupine” so if/when China decides to attack, the heavily militarized island will be able to fight off an invasion and turn it into a long, bloody conflict for the Chinese. (See “CHINA HITS U.S. OVER LATEST WEAPONS SALE TO TAIWAN” 11 Jul 2023, “TAIWAN ENVOY WANTS TO RAMP UP WAR” 6 Jun 2023, “U.S. WANTS TO TURN TAIWAN INTO A PORCUPINE ON STEROIDS” 23 May 2023, and “CHINA: INTERFERE ON TAIWAN AND FACE ‘DANGEROUS’ OUTCOMES” 25 Apr 2023.)

AntiWar.com reported that the U.S. has been selling weapons to Taiwan since 1979—when Washington officially severed diplomatic ties with the country, but this is the first time it provided weapons to Taipei free of charge. 

The funding was from the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that authorized $1 billion in drawdown authority for Taiwan. The same drawdown authority has been used to arm Ukrainian forces to the teeth without a whisper of debate on Capitol Hill. 

“We take our responsibilities to Taiwan and to improving their self-defense capabilities very, very seriously,” John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, told reporters before the announcement of the drawdown. 

Taiwan spent a record $17 billion on its military in 2022 and, in January, its parliament approved $8.6 billion more that will be earmarked for precision missiles and high-efficiency naval ships.

We have long noted that the island would not stand a chance in a direct conflict with China. Beijing spends about 25 times the amount Taipei does on its defenses. China also has a hundred times as many ground-force troops as the island.