US To Sell Taiwan Anti-tank System As China's Threat Grows

In the face of China's growing military threat, the US State Department has approved the sale of an anti-tank mine-laying system to Taiwan.

The department estimated the Volcano system and all associated equipment would cost USD 180 million on Wednesday.

It can disperse anti-tank and anti-personnel mines from a ground vehicle or a helicopter, which some experts believe Taiwan needs more of to deter or repel a potential Chinese invasion.

To show that threat, China's military dispatched 71 planes and seven ships to Taiwan in a 24-hour show of force against the self-ruled island it claims as its own territory, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said on Monday.

China's military harassment of Taiwan has increased in recent years, as has top leaders' rhetoric that the island has no choice but to accept eventual Chinese rule.

As a result, the People's Liberation Army, the ruling Communist Party's increasingly powerful military wing, has sent planes or ships to the island almost daily.

According to Taiwan’s Defence Ministry, 47 Chinese planes crossed the median of the Taiwan Strait between 6 a.m. on Sunday and 6 a.m. on Monday, an unofficial boundary once tacitly accepted by both sides.

This came after China expressed its displeasure with Taiwan-related provisions in the United States' annual defence spending bill, as has become standard Chinese practice.

In response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August, China conducted large-scale live-fire military exercises. Foreign government visits to the island are viewed by Beijing as de facto recognition of Taiwan's independence and a challenge to China's claim of sovereignty.

In deference to Beijing, Washington maintains only unofficial ties with Taiwan, which include robust defence exchanges and military sales.

The Volcano sale, according to the State Department, “serves US national, economic and security interests by supporting the recipient's ongoing efforts to modernise its armed forces and maintain a credible defensive capability.”

It stated that Taiwan would have “no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces” and that the sale would “not change the fundamental military balance in the region.”

Analysts disagree on Taiwan's defence priorities, with some advocating for expensive items such as advanced fighter jets.

China's overwhelming numerical advantage in personnel and equipment forces Taiwan to take a more “asymmetric” approach.