Why Beijing Fears US Arms Sales to Taiwan

President Xi Jinping recently warned President Trump to show prudence regarding Taiwan during their first direct call in months, signaling that Beijing views the latest US arms package as a red line. This diplomatic friction stems from Washington supplying Taiwan with lethal asymmetric weaponry designed to make a potential invasion prohibitively costly. The controversial 11 billion dollar deal notably includes HIMARS rocket launchers and long-range ATACMS missiles which give Taiwanese forces the ability to strike Chinese ports and assembly areas directly across the strait. The package also features swarms of loitering munitions and suicide drones intended to overwhelm Chinese naval defenses during an amphibious assault. By providing mobile anti-armor systems like Javelins and upgrading coastal Harpoon missiles, the US is effectively shifting Taiwan toward a porcupine strategy. China fears this hardware because it negates their numerical advantage and could turn a rapid unification operation into a prolonged and devastating quagmire.