(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday approved $567 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, the latest move by the United States to boost the island’s military in the face of rising tensions with China.
The United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties. China has repeatedly demanded Washington stop selling weapons to Taipei, which it claims as its territory.
In a statement, the White House said Biden had delegated the Secretary of State the authority “to direct the drawdown of up to $567 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan”.
It provided no further details.
In April, Biden signed a hard-fought bill into law that provides billions of dollars of new U.S. aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia, as well as for Israel and Taiwan.
Taipei has complained of delayed U.S. arms deliveries, including for upgraded F-14 fighter jets.
China, which views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.
(Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Michael Perry)