Washington, Aug 30 (AP) The Biden administration has approved the first-ever US military transfer to Taiwan under a programme generally reserved for assistance to sovereign, independent states.

The State Department notified Congress of the sale on Wednesday. It said the material would “be used to strengthen Taiwan's self-defence capabilities.”

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The package is modest — only USD 80 million of what Congress had set aside as a potential USD 2 billion — but the implications of using the so-called Foreign Military Financing programme to provide it will likely infuriate China.

Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, has repeatedly not ruled out the use of force to reunite it with the mainland, and vociferously protests all US arms sales to the self-governing island.

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However, previous arms sales to Taiwan have been approved under other authorities that do not necessarily imply statehood. US officials were quick to say that the provision of FMF funding to Taiwan did not represent a change in policy; a position the Chinese are sure to disagree with.

The notification, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, did not specify what military equipment or systems would be paid for under FMF, which commits US taxpayer dollars to pay for the supply of materiel to foreign countries.

In addition to equipment, FMF may also be used to support training for Taiwanese military forces. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)