China accuse US of Selling ‘Outdated Yet Overpriced’ Weapons to Taiwan

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Last week, the Biden administration announced a $345 million military aid package for Taiwan, marking the first use of presidential drawdown authority for the island.

On August 3, China’s state-run newspaper Global Times weighed in on U.S. arm sales to Taiwan:

"Converting the island of Taiwan into a ‘porcupine’ is a plan that benefits only the US, and selling such amounts of outdated yet overpriced weapons also brings huge profits to the US' military-industrial complex."

That is false.

Military experts told Polygraph.info that the U.S. has sent top-of-the-line equipment to Taiwan for many years. The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system, through which Taiwan obtains most of its U.S.-made weapons, treats all foreign customers the same, including pricing.

These weapons are not overpriced. The price reflects higher U.S. labor costs, as well as U.S. systems’ more advanced technology and greater capabilities.


Taiwan now employs the “Porcupine Strategy,” also known as asymmetrical warfare, as its main military strategy towards China. First introduced in 2017 by the then-chief of the Taiwanese military forces, Lee Hsi-Min, it involves “a large number of small things,” requiring Taiwan to stock up on smaller anti-air, anti-tank and anti-ship weapons rather than larger weapon systems to fend off a possible attack from China.

Since the U.S. Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979, Washington has been approving arms sales to the island to help it maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.