President Donald Trump’s administration, on Wednesday, sought Congress’s approval to finalise an $11 billion arms sale to China’s longtime foe, Taiwan.

Taiwan, for years, has been pouring billions of dollars investing in military weapons over concerns of a possible Chinese invasion given the country’s unhidden hostility towards Taipei.

The proposed purchase include anti-tank missiles, loitering suicide drones, anti-armour missiles, howitzers, and military software. Spare parts of other equipment were.also included in the deal, based on information released by both Washington and Taipei.

The arms deal, awaiting approval, has drawn scrutiny from Beijing as its foreign affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun said United States’ support for Taiwan’s sovereignty will “backfire.”

“The U.S.’ attempt to use force to support Taiwan independence will only backfire, and its attempt to contain China by using Taiwan will absolutely not succeed,” Mr Jiakun said at a press briefing on Thursday. 

President Xi Jinping’s government said Beijing  “firmly opposes and strongly condemns” the deal.

The Taiwanese defence ministry said the U.S was only assisting Taipei to boost its self-defence capabilities.

“The United States… continues to assist Taiwan in maintaining sufficient self‑defense capabilities and in rapidly building strong deterrence and leveraging asymmetric warfare advantages, which form the foundation for maintaining regional peace and stability,” reads a statement from Taiwan’s defense ministry.