Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at U.S. military support for Taiwan, the European Union considering the use of frozen Russian funds to aid Ukraine, and Australia’s new penalties on hate speech.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump have tried to stabilize relations between their two countries during the latter’s second term in office, culminating in Trump’s upcoming visit to Beijing in April. But a new U.S. arms deal with Taiwan could jeopardize those efforts—and exacerbate an already dangerous flash point in the Indo-Pacific.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at U.S. military support for Taiwan, the European Union considering the use of frozen Russian funds to aid Ukraine, and Australia’s new penalties on hate speech.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump have tried to stabilize relations between their two countries during the latter’s second term in office, culminating in Trump’s upcoming visit to Beijing in April. But a new U.S. arms deal with Taiwan could jeopardize those efforts—and exacerbate an already dangerous flash point in the Indo-Pacific.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced the United States’ largest-ever arms package for Taipei. Worth $11.1 billion, the deal includes more than $4 billion each for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (known as HIMARS) and M109 self-propelled howitzers, as well as more than $700 million for Javelin and TOW anti-tank missiles and Altius loitering munitions.

This is the second U.S. arms sale to Taiwan in Trump’s second term, and if approved by the U.S. Congress, as is likely, then it will exceed the $8.4 billion in weapons sold to Taipei during the Biden administration.

According to the U.S. National Security Strategy unveiled this month, Washington aims to deter conflict over Taiwan by “preserving military overmatch” against China in the region. To achieve this, the United States has encouraged Taipei to spend more on

© Foreign Policy