The United States has approved military aid to Taiwan under a programme usually used to help sovereign states in a move likely to anger China, which claims the self-ruled democratic island as its own territory.
The Department of State informed Congress on Tuesday of the $80m package, which is modest in comparison with recent military sales to Taiwan but marks the first time Washington has provided assistance to Taipei under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme, which generally involves grants or loans to sovereign countries.
