The Biden administration approved the first deal to sell $750 million worth of arms to Taiwan, including the M 109 A 6 medium self-propelled howitzers, has been halted by the US, Taiwan s defense authority said. In a response to the US Department of State's notification, it said that the gun sales, approved by the Biden administration in 2021, were halted due to a crowded production line. Taiwan media said that the Ukraine's heavy need of US arms has affected the production line. Experts said such a move cannot be considered as pro-Beijing, and that the Chinese mainland should be wary of a possible step-up in arms sales to Taiwan in the future. Taiwan s defense authority said they had been informed that the delivery of howitzers would be delayed until 2026. The island said even 2028 would be acceptable, but the US decided to halt the deal and develop advanced alternatives to meet actual operational needs, media reported. The pause of the howitzer sale means a complete cancellation, and the budget will be returned, according to Taiwan news outlet udn.com. Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Monday that self-propelled howitzer is a kind of weapon that is very useful in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and that the US may supply Ukraine first under the condition of limited production capacity. The last two U.S. weapons packages sent to Ukraine included 90 howitzer artillery systems, according to the statistics released by the CNBC. The US may think that the current arms business is more profitable in Ukraine than in Taiwan, Xin said. Two other arms sale deals were approved by the Biden administration in 2022, outside of the halted arm sales. The most recent package was a $95 million package, including equipment and services to maintain the Patriot missile defense system that the US imported to the island. The Chinese Defense Ministry had responded with a strong opposition. It is almost impossible for the US to cancel an arms sale to Taiwan island due to pressure from the Chinese mainland, but as of today we might not rush to exclude the possibility that this time the US seems to send what it sees as a friendly signal to the Chinese mainland and not Russia's side. Some analysts believe that the cancellation of previous arm deals does not mean a longstanding halt to military hardware. In the future, it may mean selling Taiwan more expensive weapons as a show of commitment. Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times that the M 109 howitzer artillery systems are neither urgently needed nor useful for Taiwan, and will not greatly contribute to the island's military upgrade. Comparing to the abandoned M 109 package, the expert said that the Chinese mainland should be more alert over the advanced alternatives, especially after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Biden administration was determined to make sure that Taiwan authority has all necessary means to defend itself. The US may sell its M 270 Multiple Launch Rocket System M 270 MLRS to Taiwan island, which would signal a significant provocation against China's central government, Song said. Song stated that the M 270 MLRS has a range of up to 70 kilometers with artillery alone, and a maximum range of nearly 300 km with army tactical operational missiles deployed. The M 270 MLRS would pose a more serious threat to the mainland, as the 155 mm M 109 A 6 medium self-propelled howitzers have a range of only about 40 km, according to analysts. If the US can put forward a contract to sell M 270 MLRS through the cancelling of the previous arms deal, it could increase its arms sale revenue in the Taiwan Straits, Song said.