"Until China agrees to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, it will be essential to show that the US is a credible ally for Taiwan and other allies in this region" Waldron said.
While most local military analysts agree that the security enhancement act would give the military much-needed help, the political implications of the House's passage of the bill are harder to calculate.
"It's really hard to say what will happen," said Arthur Ting (丁樹範), a military analyst at National Chengchi University. "Beijing leaders will be watching Clinton's actions closely."
"I don't know what they [China] will do, they may do something," Ting said.
Andrew Yang (楊念祖), secretary-general of the Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taipei said that he thought the bill would help improve military relations and could have a positive influence on Taiwan's military. On the other hand, it put pressure on US-China relations.
"The US needs time to work out its relations with Beijing," Yang said.
"China could never accept US-Taiwan military-to-military relations under the current framework of US-China relations," he said.
Both Yang and Ting said they expected the bill in the end would be vetoed by the US president.
"Even if the Senate approves it, Clinton will use his veto power," Yang said.
Analysts in Washington do not expect a Senate vote before Taiwan's presidential election on March 18.
RSS