US approves sale of F-16 missiles worth $619 million to Taiwan

The United States has approved the sale to Taiwan of $619 million in munitions for F-16 fighter jets, in a move likely to anger Beijing.

The package includes 100 AGM-88B High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM), 200 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles(AMRAAM), and launchers and dummy missiles for training, the Pentagon said in a statement late on March 1, TRT World reports.

The sale will boost Taiwan's "capability to provide for the defence of its airspace, regional security, and interoperability with the United States", it added.

The announcement comes amid elevated tensions between the United States and China over Taiwan, as well as the downing last month of a balloon over US airspace that Washington says was a Chinese surveillance device.

Taiwan has been self-ruled for over seven decades, but Beijing regards it as a renegade province.