Sign our letter to Congress demanding that they use their Congressional authority to block the sale of $750 million dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan. Not only is this sale in direct violation of China’s sovereignty and previous agreements between the U.S. and China, it also will exacerbate climate change through military pollution and increase the risk of kinetic and nuclear war between the nations. Read our action alert here.
We know U.S. imperialism impacts people outside of the U.S. the most, so we invite all people to send a message to Congress that the U.S. must stop investing in and profiting from weapons deals!
Co-sponsored by: the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament & Common Security
Dear Member of Congress,
I am writing to you today as a concerned citizen urging you to block the U.S. Department of Defense's foreign military sale of $750 million dollars worth of weapons systems, artillery, military equipment, and services to Taiwan. The sale would include 40 M109A6 self-propelled howitzer systems, 5 M2 Chrysler Mount armored vehicles with .50-caliber machine guns, nearly 1,700 kits to enable GPS-guided munitions, and other assorted weapons systems. The deal would also include U.S. Government and contractor technical, engineering, logistical, and program support services.
Using and even just transporting these weapons to Taiwan will cause more environmental destruction and contribute to climate change. In addition to the dire and direct humanitarian impact of war, the ongoing climate catastrophe that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres recently called a 'code red for humanity' after the U.N. released its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report should be reason enough for the U.S. government to stop investing in and profiting from militarism and war.
Furthermore, this sale of weapons to Taiwan violates the Three U.S.-China Joint Communiqués — specifically, the U.S.’s official “One China” policy acknowledging that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is one China and Taiwan is part of China, the agreement by the U.S. not to interfere in China’s sovereignty and internal affairs, and the U.S.’s pledge to reduce its sale of sophisticated arms to Taiwan. These policies have kept peace in the region for 40 years; selling advanced arms to Taiwan at this point will only make war – possibly nuclear war – ever more likely.China’s Foreign Ministry has called this proposed arms sale a violation of China’s sovereignty that sends the wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces, seriously damages Sino-U.S. relations, and threatens peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Moreover, sending more weapons to Taiwan will surely upset Chinese leaders, making the much-needed cooperation on climate change, pandemic relief, nuclear nonproliferation and other issues of common concern increasingly difficult.
These arms sales inflame tensions between Taiwan, China, and the United States, increasing the chances of an escalation of violence due to miscommunications or accidents that could easily result in the complete destruction of the island of Taiwan. Given China’s overwhelming military superiority over Taiwan, more weapons will do nothing to enhance Taiwan’s self-defense; instead they will further deepen Taiwan’s military reliance on the U.S., making U.S. involvement in a future China-Taiwan clash increasingly likely. Any increased hostility and aggression could very likely lead to a kinetic U.S. war on China, which risks becoming a nuclear war, as the U.S. has previously considered nuclear warfare against China to defend Taiwan during the Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1958.
Instead of ensuring peace as the State Department suggests, this sale of weapons makes violence, death, destruction, environmental damage, and kinetic and nuclear warfare more likely in the Taiwan Strait and in the Asia-Pacific region more broadly. In the interest of peace, prosperity, and the survival of our planet, we urge that you block this and any other sale of weapons and military equipment to Taiwan. Rather than provoking China and violating its sovereignty with this arms sale, the U.S. should respect its prior agreements made in The Three Communiqués and cooperate with China on the most pressing crises of our time: climate change, the ongoing pandemic, and nuclear proliferation.
Respectfully,