Global News

[ad_1] Military vehicles queue to launch U.S.-made TOW A2 missiles during a live firing exercise in Pingtung county on July 2023. Sam Yeh | Afp | Getty Images The United States unveiled a Taiwan weapons aid package worth up to $345 million on Friday, a move likely to anger China even as the Biden administration declined to publicly provide details on the arms in the package. Congress authorized up to $1 billion worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority weapons aid for Taiwan, which strongly rejects Chinese sovereignty claims, in the 2023 budget. Beijing has repeatedly demanded the United States, Taiwan's most important arms supplier, halt the sale of weapons to the island. In recent weeks, four sources told Reuters the package was expected to include four unarmed MQ-9A reconnaissance drones, but noted their inclusion could fall through as officials work through details on removing some of the advanced equipment from the drones that only the U.S. Air Force is allowed access to.

[ad_1] Taipei CNN  —  The number of companies in Taiwan saying they’re experiencing business disruptions due to rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing has almost doubled, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan . An annual survey, which polled 214 member firms in Taiwan, showed that the number of companies reporting “significant disruption” rose from 17% to 33% between August and December 2022, the chamber said Tuesday . Last August, then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, and China stepped up military drills in response. China’s ruling Communist Party has increasingly exerted its territorial claims over democratic Taiwan, a self-governing island, despite having never controlled it. The business disruptions were caused by elevated concern from global headquarters, increased shipping, insurance or financial costs, as well as staff anxiety, the c