The United States has approved $2 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, including the first-time delivery to the self-ruled island of an advanced surface-to-air missile defence system, in a move sure to anger China.

Taiwan’s presidential office on Saturday thanked Washington for greenlighting the potential arms sales. Under the island’s new president, Lai Ching-te, Taiwan has been stepping up defence measures as China increased its military threats against the territory it claims as its own. Beijing, last week, held war games encircling Taiwan for the second time since Lai took office in May. The US is Taiwan’s strongest unofficial ally and its laws bound it to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.