ASIA PACIFIC

U.S. backs Taiwan missile sale with China tensions soaring

Flames engulf a launch truck as soldiers fire a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System produced by Lockheed Martin during combat training in the high desert of the Yakima Training Center in the state of Washington. | THE OLYMPIAN / VIA AP

By Tony Capaccio
Bloomberg

Oct 27, 2020

The State Department has signaled its approval for a potential $2.4 billion sale of anti-ship missiles to Taiwan, a move certain to anger Beijing and raise tensions further between the U.S. and China days before the American election.

The Trump administration said in a statement Monday that it has notified Congress that it backs the proposed sale of as many as 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems built by Boeing Co., which include 400 land-based missiles.

The new Harpoon anti-ship missiles are intended to be launched from ground-mobile launchers, adding to Taiwan’s arsenal of air and submarine-launched Harpoons from earlier sales.

U.S. backs Taiwan missile sale with China tensions soaring

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