China denounced the United States for approving a massive $11.1 billion weapons package for Taiwan, warning that the deal risks turning the island into a "powder keg" and driving the region toward "military confrontation and war."

The unprecedented sale includes 82 HIMARS launchers paired with 420 ATACMS long-range missiles — a combination that would give Taiwan new deep-strike capability across the Taiwan Strait — along with 60 self-propelled howitzers, advanced UAV systems, military software packages, and anti-armor weapons.

Beijing accused Taiwan’s leadership of "seeking independence through force" and claimed Washington is using the island to "contain China," rhetoric that signals heightened tensions even as the U.S. frames the package as essential to bolstering Taiwan’s self-defense.

"The ‘Taiwan independence’ forces on the island seek independence through force and resist reunification through force, squandering the hard-earned money of the people to purchase weapons at the cost of turning Taiwan into a powder keg," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun. 

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"This cannot save the doomed fate of ‘Taiwan independence’ but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The U.S. support for ‘Taiwan Independence’ through arms will only end up backfiring. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed," he added.

U.S. officials have not yet detailed delivery timelines, but the sale reflects Washington’s push to accelerate Taiwan’s defenses amid growing concern over China’s military pressure campaign. The HIMARS–ATACMS combination is expected to draw particular attention from Beijing because it would allow Taiwan to target PLA staging areas, ships, and infrastructure from mobile launchers — a capability China has repeatedly warned against.

In its notification to Congress, the State Department said the proposed sales would advance "U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability." The department added that the weapons would "help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region."

Under longstanding U.S. policy, Washington provides Taiwan with arms it deems necessary for the island’s self-defense while maintaining a "One China" policy and not supporting a declaration of formal independence. China argues that any enhancement of Taiwan’s defenses encourages separatism, while U.S. officials say the purpose of such sales is to preserve stability and deter conflict.

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The package now enters a 30-day congressional review period, during which lawmakers could file a resolution attempting to block it — a step Congress has never taken for a Taiwan arms sale. Once the review period ends, contracting and production begin, a process that typically stretches over several years and contributes to a backlog that once reached $20 billion in undelivered U.S. weapons Taiwan has already purchased.

China has a track record of responding to major Taiwan arms sales with military demonstrations, including large-scale PLA drills, increased air and naval activity near the island and sanctions on U.S. defense firms. Analysts say Beijing’s sharp rhetoric suggests additional military signaling is likely, though China did not immediately announce specific countermeasures.

The latest sale marks a significant boost to Taiwan’s conventional firepower. In recent months, Beijing has stepped up pressure across the strait with near-daily PLA air and naval patrols, record incursions around the island, and high-profile exercises meant to signal its ability to encircle Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung thanked the U.S. on Wednesday for its "long-term support for regional security and Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities," which he said are key to deterring a conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

National security expert Rebeccah Heinrichs says the Trump administration’s escalating pressure campaign against Venezuela, intensified by designating Nicolás Maduro’s regime a foreign terrorist organization and ordering an oil tanker blockade, has helped create conditions for potential regime change "different" from those seen in other parts of the world.

"I don’t see at all how Maduro survives this. I think he’s going to be gone," she said Thursday on "Fox & Friends."

Heinrichs pointed to the Trump administration's pressure on Venezuela’s oil exports, tightening U.S. enforcement at sea and growing internal unrest as forces accelerating Maduro’s downfall.

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If he is forced out, Heinrichs said, the next phase will hinge on whether regional partners can help usher in a pro-American, democratic government without repeating the chaos seen in other regime transitions.

"You always want to worry about… what's going to replace it. Is there going to be something worse? But Maduro has been so catastrophic to the Venezuelan economy, to the people, and because of his behavior, he's forced migrant flows out of Venezuela," she said.

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"Even if you replace Maduro with another Maduro-like person, you're not in a worse-off position. Plus, we have opposition, pro-democracy people with lots of support ready in the wings, so I do think that this is different."

Heinrichs added that sustaining regime change and establishing a democratic system ultimately depends on the Venezuelan people, not the U.S.

She noted that removing Maduro is only the first step, adding that any transition would also require sidelining "militant people who support Maduro," who would have to be pushed out to make room for pro-democracy forces.

On Tuesday, Trump ordered a total blockade of oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela and declared the Maduro regime a foreign terrorist organization.

Trump also accused the regime of using stolen U.S. assets to finance terrorism, trafficking and other criminal activity.

Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this report.