The US Congress has passed the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 that makes provision for Taiwan’s inclusion in US-led training programs with foreign countries as a way of increasing maritime security in the South China Sea and supporting bilateral military exchanges with Taiwan.
The bill will now be sent to the White House for US President Barack Obama to sign into law.
The US Senate passed the bill on Tuesday last week, five days after it cleared the floor of the House of Representatives.
The bill includes a South China Sea Initiative that authorizes the US secretary of defense, with the concurrence of the secretary of state, to provide assistance and training programs aimed at “increasing maritime security and maritime domain awareness of foreign countries along the South China Sea.”
Such assistance and training may be provided to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, the bill says.
It allows for the inclusion of Taiwan, Brunei and Singapore, based on the US secretary of defense’s estimation of the costs beyond the US$50 million allocated for assistance and training under the China South Sea Initiative.
The Congress also passed a joint explanatory statement to accompany the defense act.
“We believe that the United States, in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, should continue to make available to Taiwan such defense articles and services as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self- defense,” the statement said.
The statement also recommended the US Department of Defense carry out an exchange program for military officers from the US and Taiwan to improve military-to-military relations.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
RSS