Public sentiment regarding the US arms sale to Taiwan is largely mixed, with substantial support for Taiwan's right to self-defense against China, alongside critical voices questioning the motivations behind the sale and the potential for escalating tensions. While many commenters emphasize the importance of supporting democracy and sovereignty, concerns about trust in US commitments and skepticism about the arms' utility also resonate strongly.

United States

Taiwan

China

&gt;US confirms sale of US$700 million air defence missile system to Taiwan

Who cares?

Sale is not the same as delivered and operational. 

NoElderberry7543

How much did our boy ~~Adolph~~ Trump get?

dinosaurkiller

Remember not long ago when pro-CCP voices were mocking the idea that the US had halted military assistance to Taiwan? This is exactly why people should not react too strongly to every single piece of news, whether it looks positive or negative. Arms sales and security signals follow long term strategy, not emotional swings.

As long as you understand the basic strategic posture, that is enough. Overreacting simply makes it easier for CCP propaganda to manipulate public sentiment through psychological and information warfare. Staying calm and keeping perspective is the best defense.

SkywalkerTC

So unserious comments aside, technically speaking this makes a lot of sense for Taiwan's missile defense system. We're currently running Patriot for the most part, which has longer range and more expensive missiles. In contrast, NASAMS has shorter range, significantly cheaper missiles, and is more logistically friendly, mobile, and better for low-flying maneuvering cruise missiles and drones. It seems like exactly the kind of purchase that'd useful for Taiwan as the threat environment continues to change, where a small number of expensive missiles can be burned through too quickly, and a larger number of cheaper missiles is useful to have (which we've seen in Ukraine).

funnytoss

bobo-the-dodo

The military complex warlords are laughing 😆

pdxc

Now its $22B + $700M in US arms that have bkt been delivered yet.

Do Taiwanese know of the scam that US forces Taiwan to sell US arms to the Philippines at a loss to Taiwan.

random_agency

airmantharp

Wish they could take Magic and Mica missiles

SteadfastEnd

Thanks to the hard work and frugality of Taiwanese this year, some Raytheon boss will buy his first super yacht.

Maybe they’ll bother delivering a couple of them before China decides to invade, probably not

thinking_velasquez

Trump denies the weapons deal with Taiwan to work a trade deal with Xi.

I'm glad to hear Trump has his priorities straight. /s

If this isn't a clear sign to Taiwan, the US will trade Taiwan away, I don't know what else to say.

There's also this. The Pentagon's new focus is Western Hemisphere, and puts less priority on Asia

[Pentagon plan prioritizes homeland over China threat - POLITICO](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/05/pentagon-national-defense-strategy-china-homeland-western-hemisphere-00546310)

johnboy43214321

Taiwan is a very special place, please let it not fall like hong kong

Electrical_Quality_6

He has the best intentions ever for Taiwan; this is one among many reasons  why he's doing what he's doing. /s.  A very big reason why quite a few Taiwanese Americans voted for him.

ledude1

This isn’t any surprise, historical U.S. presidents are known to do this for negotiation purposes. Trump did this back in 2017 when he was seeking China’s assistance in dealing with North Korea that he paused an arms sale to Taiwan.

Trump ended up selling arms to Taiwan eventually including F16s. CCP bots are going to use this article to smear the DPP and the U.S.

thewarrior112

Trump is strictly transactional. No one is safe.

voidscreamer1

Don’t worry, Xi said they won’t do anything while Trump is in office. Nothing to worry about.

Real_Sir_3655

Maybe buy from Israel? Or Saudi. 

It’s second hand. But should work.

Specialist_Roof42

We all know it's temporary. Once he's done with China, he'll be coming for Taiwan

Honest-Bonus-6323

So? The halt is temporary and 400 mil is peanuts in the greater scheme of things.

Final_Company5973

Look at the bright side. ummer is almost over.  He is facinated with Tiktok after finding out young supporters use Tiktok not Meta.

Taiwan can sign an agreement witgh Xi to maintain peace. Trump will find out PLA Navy safely moored their ships at Long Beach, SF-Oakland harbor and Seattle for that matter.

Vast_Cricket

Getting shipments of stinger missiles almost a decade later when drones are cheaper and more plentiful than the AA used to shoot them down.

_cdxliv_

Doesn't the US still owe Taiwan like 40Billions$ worth of weapons. The art of the grift. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. The gov is probably dumb enough to put another deposit down.

hkg_shumai

but taiwan will never receive these arms.

smallbatter

So now we just need to give USA half of our semi-conductor industry, spent 10%of our GDP on defense, which is about annual government budget, 10 billion dollar on agriculture goods, and probably USA will ask for our foreign reserve and gold soon. 

With USA's shitty production capability. I have difficult time to see how and when they deliver.

Stunning_Spare

Taiwan and Ukraine are single handily keeping the US industrial complex alive(internationally)

RockCultural4075

dtl72

A few excerpts:

"The first clue that something had changed in the U.S. approach to selling military equipment to Europe came as Denmark neared a decision on the purchase of a multibillion-dollar air-defense system. For weeks, American and French negotiators had aggressively pursued the deal. But as the deadline approached, the Pentagon suddenly lost interest.

“We couldn’t understand why,” a contractor who had been tracking the discussions told me. “It seemed like a no-brainer, but they just weren’t into it.”

Then, on a call earlier this month with the State Department, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby said that he didn’t believe in the value of certainforeign military sales, according to two administration officials with knowledge of the discussion. He added that he didn’t like the idea of selling Patriots—which can intercept incoming missiles—to Denmark, because they are in short supply and should be reserved for the United States to use as needed. (The officials, like others I talked with, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss this sensitive and evolving situation.)

The comments surprised some State officials, but they soon learned that it wasn’t just Denmark having its access cut off. Current and former administration officials told me the Pentagon has identified some weapons as being in short supply, and is moving to block new requests for those systems coming in from Europe. It wasn’t immediately clear to those I spoke with how long the hold will last, how many weapons are on the list, or if it could expand to include even more weapons. Few exemptions will be granted.

...

Officials and observers of the Trump administration say the change is on brand with Colby’s belief that China is the only country that has the ambition, resources, and military might to knock the U.S. off its pedestal as the world’s leading superpower. The only way to stop its bid for global dominance, Colby has argued, is for the U.S. to pour everything it can into securing the Western Pacific—albeit, potentially, at the expense of European security"



*Note that the other bit of news this week is that US has halted some weapons sales to Taiwan. "Reorient to China, huh?"*

DryCloud9903

And Denmark bought European military equipment.

  
Win-win then.

Timalakeseinai

The sooner our leaders stop pretending the US can be an ally the better. They will, and presumably are, working to sabotage and destabilise european nations just as much as Russia is.

Responsible-Kiwi870

We need an European arms industry not some national manufacturing.

Mean_Wear_742

They didn't want to sell to Denmark, and Denmark owns Greenland, and the US wants Greenland. Not a very difficult puzzle.

Bluebearder

Just another example of a country you cannot fully trust.

ernapfz

Europe should never have allowed itself to become so dependent on the US. Who decided that was a good idea?

Practical-Pea-1205

We should start to cancel contracts and make airbus, bae and rheinmetall the new giants.

CptnMillerArmy

Buy our weapons or face tariffs! Well actually we don't want to sell them to you. The rest of NATO should buy weapons for Ukraine! Well actually we don't want to sell them. Screw Europe, we need to focus on the Pacific! Well actually we have just pissed off all allies like India, Japan and Korea and we are throwing Taiwan under the bus.
Do the US have an actual strategy? 

zimon85

"Officials and observers of the Trump administration say the change is on brand with Colby’s belief that China is the only country that has the ambition, resources, and military might to knock the U.S. off its pedestal as the world’s leading superpower. The only way to stop its bid for global dominance, Colby has argued, is for the U.S. to pour everything it can into securing the Western Pacific—albeit, potentially, at the expense of European security"

Trump in his 1st term withdrew from Obama's TPPA (designed to contain China) initiative, and in his 2nd term antagonized pretty much every ally in East Asia including everyone in the 1st island chain. The latest was the ICE mass arrest shitshow over at South Korean factory in the US.

I dunno what they are doing but they sure ain countering China.

ApostleofV8

Australia will likely not have any submarines in a few years for the same reasons, and the US are also cutting some sales to Taiwan...

Ja_Shi

The US is, weirdly, preparing to defend their mainland as if anyone would attempt an invasion. Meanwhile, they refuse to sell weaponry to nations closer to agressors. Odd. Almost like Trump is trying to leave Europe naked for someone, while making sure that someone doesn't attempt anything against him.

CallM3N3w

Good thing is that EU countries in many cases are fueling their own military production, some of them starting the hybrid war 2014-2022 and intensifying it after 2022, understanding where the current administration’s priorities are going and what that would mean for, say, the Baltic states, Finland and Poland with the next few years.

Whatever-That-Memes

Good. Europe cannot rely on America. The sooner it realises, the sooner it can behave like a grown up.

incasuns

&gt;But the Patriot doesn’t really have a European equivalent

YET

Like with all these decisions, there will be the unintended consequence of Europeans not only looking for alternatives, but actually developing them themselves. 

The European military-industrial complex is booming and air defence is at the very top of the agenda. Billions are flowing into R&amp;D, startups have put some extra pressure on the established companies to innovate. 

Necessity begets ingenuity. 

And make no mistake, once that huge export market is lost (US defence companies made tens of billions even in peaceful times every year by selling kit to Europe), it will be gone for good.

diamanthaende

Are we sure that Europe doesn't trust the US as an ally any longer?

danm67

Tbh that's not wholly unreasonable; they really do have lower stocks than they're going to need if they get into a war and I sure as shit wouldn't sell them any weapons we were short of right now.

tree_boom

All the more reason to invest immediately in domestic European defense companies!

Also remember a few months ago when Rubio was super butthurt that US companies were excluded from the EU ReArm initiative? Well well well…

dainomite

de6u99er

Agent Krasnov is working with the Russians, what a shocker!

parting_soliloquy

Limiting NATO's ability to defend themselves.

GrannyFlash7373

Good occasion to improve the our domestic arm manufacturing industry

Darjuz96

Good, the US is no longer a reliable partner even if they bought the systems there is no guarantee you would be sold missiles for it once you used up existing stock.

European weapons for Europe keep jobs and money here and supply chains short

petevwe

Because they intend to use them in wars of expansion. And against their own populace.

Purple_Plus

Europe is quietly pausing some arms purchases from America.

greenpowerman99

What a coincidence. As soon as Denmark decided to buy €8bn worth of SAMP/T systems instead of Patriot, the US announce that they *totally* hadn't been interested in selling it, and instead needed to keep the systems for their own use.

Despite [officially and publicly greenlighting the sale](https://www.army-technology.com/news/us-denmark-patriot-defense/) not even two weeks beforehand.

Sour grapes.

HighDeltaVee

TheJiral

Buy our weapons!

Won´t deliver our weapons!

Is this some art of the deal?

hmtk1976

So what? That will  give manufacturers in the EU a push to further improve their systems and the world to buy from them. Just another step on the way to make America irrelevant again.

If "Death to America" had an avatar, it would be that orange pedophile turd. Release the Epstein files!

Edit: Typo

BergderZwerg

It looks very much like the United States is preparing for war.

Any-Original-6113

I hope they stop all weapon sales to Europe. It’ll be a hard pill to swallow, but it’s probably the only way European leadership with finally get the message: the US is not an ally.

Kevin_Jim

Its simply untrue that Europe doesnt have an Patriots equilivant when the SAMP/T NG are as capable as the Patriots, it sounds like some US spin on why Denmark didnt choose their system and Europe as a whole stop buying American weapon systems.

[https://www.mbda-systems.com/products/area-protection/aster-family/aster-sampt-ng](https://www.mbda-systems.com/products/area-protection/aster-family/aster-sampt-ng)

MacDaddy8541

Whatever Israel wants, they would get it from the US. Good luck for the other US allies.

prolongedsunlight

The US is done. Can’t wait for the final episode, seems like it’s coming soon.
The country is just failing.

Sineira

Ok_Needleworker5837

Like always, they only care about themselves

Mpotocnik

Thought the whole purpose was to get them to spend 5% on defense

at0mheart

I can't wait for Europe to be independent from this fascist shit hole. Not a single word, promise, or deal with this US administration is worth a damn, they couldn't be more unreliable if they tried. 

Unless you're Russia, then you can surely count on them.

EquipmentAdorable982

Why do people in this thread care?

Wasn't that long ago we all agreed we needed to buy more EU weaponry.

Why are some people clutching their pearls over this?

Pogopoggers69

M6 takeaway from this is that starving Europe of replacements is an indirect way of starving Ukraine of weaponry, which Trump agreed Europe could buy from US and donate to Ukraine. It's almost as if he wants his boss, Putin, to win.

Cathal1954

if its about low inventory...how about increasing production? i mean it has been pretty clear for quite a while that ukraine needs a fuckton of missile defense, as does the rest of europe, when increasing defense readiness, as does taiwan, if china does a funny.

you guys have the largest MIC in the world by miles, investing a trillion dollars per year, i'm sure you could ramp up production quite a bit, if you wanted.

One-Reflection-4826

Less competition sure sounds good, they should rethink more of those weapons, the second weapon seller does not mind money that is for sure.

SraminiElMejorBeaver

Hi from the great state of Massachusetts. You guys need to pour a trillion dollars into your own defense industries. America invaded Iraq more than 20 years ago. Trump was inaugurated 8 years ago. You’ve had more than enough time to figure this shit out for yourselves. we’re insane, incompetent, and you can’t rely on us. As far as replacing the dollar—fuck if I know how to do that. But start with making your own Patriot missiles. Then, maybe, get yourselves a proper theater-ranged nuclear tipped missile, something in between France’s hades missile and Israel’s Jericho II. That can buy you enough time to make your own fancy hypersonic missile, and then you folks are set

Secondcomingfan

So how is the mood today on this sub? Do we want US weapons or do we not want US weapons??

Enzo_Gorlomi225

What is so surprising about Trump obediently following orders from his master Putin?

Much_Educator8883

boredofshit

ilikeCRUNCHYturtles

The USA is not an ally anymore and will turn into an enemy soon.

stupendous76

Electronic_Bug5047

Good occasion to improve the our domestic arm manufacturing company

Makes sense, they basically gave up on the Houthid after blowing through so much of their naval stockpile that they are now testing how to mount Patriots on naval ships.

PanickyFool

The United States has confirmed a $700 million sale of advanced air defense missile systems to Taiwan amidst increasing tensions with China.

US Arms Sale to Taiwan

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