Opinion | Why the US will fail to use Taiwan to counter China

Name: Taiwan arms fair draws record number of dealers amid defence spending spree
Uploaded: 2026-01-13T01:30:11.000Z
Duration: 3 min 12 s
Description: Taiwan arms fair draws record number of dealers amid defence spending spree

US weapons sales to Taiwan violate the one-China principle but won’t sway Asean or the wider international community

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The Patriot missile system is deployed at a park in Taipei on July 11, 2025. Photo: AFP

Fu Fengshan

Published: 9:30am, 13 Jan 2026Updated: 9:56am, 13 Jan 2026

Last month, the United States announced its decision to sell advanced weapons amounting to US$11.1 billion to China’s Taiwan region. The authorisation of the largest ever arms package to Taiwan since China and the US established diplomatic relations has seriously violated the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, severely undermined Chinese sovereignty and security interests, gravely interfered in China’s internal affairs and sent the wrong signals to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces.

The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations.

China has made solemn representations and lodged strong protests to the US side. It has also taken punitive and deterrent countermeasures to firmly uphold the one-China principle and safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. This is both history and reality. The restoration of Taiwan to China was an integral part of the victorious outcomes of the second world war and the post-war international order. The 1943 Cairo Declaration, the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation and Japan’s Instrument of Surrender all support China’s sovereignty over Taiwan.

Later, in 1971, UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 settled the question of China’s representation once and for all, recognising the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of the whole of China, including Taiwan. The one-China principle is the political foundation and prerequisite for China to establish and advance diplomatic relations with countries in the world.

It is the consensus of the international community and a basic norm governing international relations. Based on this principle, 183 countries have established diplomatic relations with China.

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Taiwan arms fair draws record number of dealers amid defence spending spree

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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US weapons sales to Taiwan violate the one-China principle but won’t sway Asean or the wider international community

US weapons sales to Taiwan violate the one-China principle but won’t sway Asean or the wider international community