The US is planning to transfer 7 important weapons systems at the same time, including mines, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to Taiwan, according to four unnamed US officials familiar with the matter.

Pursuing seven major arms deals at the same time is an unusual move, a far cry from Washington’s previous policy, which was to sell arms to Taiwan in a trickle and carefully calculated manner to avoid angering Beijing.

Sources say the US contract package being promoted will include long-range UAVs, modern anti-ship missiles, coastal defense systems capable of using smart mines and specialized submarine-killing torpedoes, to increase

Harpoon missile launched from a US warship during a 2016 exercise. Photo: US Navy.

`President Donald Trump may be informed of the contract package by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week and it may be transmitted to the US Congress in the coming weeks. Some contracts have been proposed by Taipei for more than a year

The US State Department declined to comment on the above information.

Taiwan’s defense agency said it has always kept arms sales discussions secret and will not comment on `media speculation` until the US State Department announces them.

The US government is increasing pressure on China in the context that bilateral relations are at their lowest level in decades due to confrontation over many issues such as Covid-19, Hong Kong and the trade war.

Representative of the Taiwanese government in the US Hsiao Bi-khim said in August that Taipei was negotiating with Washington to buy a series of coastal defense weapons such as mines and Harpoon anti-ship missiles to improve combat capabilities.

Six unnamed US officials said Taiwan also wants to buy 4 Sea Guardian drones for about 600 million USD.

China considers Taiwan a part of its territory and is willing to use force to unify it if necessary.