US to sell Taiwan anti-ship missiles – Bloomberg (www.rt.com)

Both deals are in line with an initial US government announcement for the Harpoon sale announced back in 2020, which included 100 launchers and 400 missiles, with the full transaction valued at more than 2.3 billion at the time.

Army Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to confirm whether the April 7 Boeing contract is intended for Taiwan, but told Bloomberg we will continue to work with industry to provide Taiwan defense equipment in a timely manner.

The United States provision to Taiwan of defense articles is essential for Taiwans security, he added.

Some US lawmakers have clamored to boost arms deals with the island.

Reports of the upcoming sale came soon after a top US lawmaker met with the islands leader and declared the need to accelerate weapons sales.

Taipei will soon buy up to 400 missiles for the landbased version of the Harpoon system, the president of the USTaiwan Business Council, Rupert HammondChambers, told Bloomberg on Monday.

While the Pentagon announced a 1.7 billion Boeing contract for 400 Harpoons on April 7, it did not specify the buyer.

Michael McCaul lamented a backlog of weapons sales to Taiwan worth some 19 billion, telling Taiwanese leader Tsai Ingwen we are doing everything we can in Congress to speed up these sales and get you the weapons you need.

Tsai also recently traveled to the United States to meet with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who reiterated vocal support for Taiwan and stressed the need to expedite military support for the island.

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Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory, is unlikely to accept the reported missile sale, having condemned prior US arms transfers to Taipei.