According to Taiwan, the deal is worth the equivalent of just over three billion kronor. It is said to involve spare parts, accessories and other consumables, including for fighter jets.
The United States does not recognize Taiwan's independence, but is in practice the island's main guarantor and arms supplier in the face of a Chinese threat. China has been adamant that the island will sooner or later be brought under Chinese control, by force if necessary.
Democratic Taiwan functions in practice as an independent state, but the one-party rule in Beijing considers it a Chinese breakaway region, ever since the Chinese Civil War in the 1940s, when the communists took power.
A little further north in the region, in South Korea, it has been announced that the country will begin building nuclear submarines together with the United States. This is part of a larger trade and security agreement that the countries have entered into, announced President Lee Jae Myung. US President Donald Trump announced a few weeks ago that South Korea will receive submarines that will be built in shipyards on the American east coast, but it is not clear from the latest information where the production will take place.
China's ambassador to Seoul describes the South Korea-US agreement as one that "goes beyond a pure commercial partnership," with a negative impact on global disarmament principles and security on the Korean Peninsula.
