US President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, which for the first time included a section on senior military exchanges with Taiwan.
The bill cleared the US Senate in a 92-7 vote on Dec. 8 after its approval in the US House of Representatives by a vote of 375-34 six days earlier.
Section 1284 of the act states: “It is the sense of [US] Congress that the [US] Secretary of Defense should conduct a program of senior military exchanges between the United States and Taiwan that have the objective of improving military-to-military relations and defense cooperation between the United States and Taiwan.”
Screengrab from the Military News Agency Web site
A “sense of Congress” is not legally binding, even though the language is included in an otherwise legally effective legislation.
It reflects the view of many on Capitol Hill who think the current level of US military exchanges with Taiwan has been insufficient.
It remains to be seen whether or how the administration of US president-elect Donald Trump will act on this section of the act.
Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
If implemented, the act stipulates that the senior military exchange program should be conducted at least once each calendar year in both Taiwan and the US.
It defines “senior military exchange” as “an activity, exercise, professional education event, or observation opportunity in which senior military officers and senior defense officials participate.”
It also defined “senior military officer” as a general or flag officer on active duty in the armed forces, while “senior defense official,” in reference to the US Department of Defense, was defined as a civilian official at the level of assistant secretary of defense or above.
The act will elevate Taiwan-US military ties to another level if institutionalized, National Chung Hsing University Institute of International Politics professor Tsai Ming-yan (蔡明彥) said yesterday.
The law is not only symbolic, but will have some practical effects, he said, adding that Taiwan and the US would have deeper cooperation on threat assessments and battle plans.
China might become agitated over the closer Taiwan-US ties, but continued threat of armed conflict against Taiwan would only deepen Taiwan’s resolve to work with the US and Japan, Tsai said, adding that China should seek to enter into dialogue with Taiwan.
The Ministry of National Defense said it has made a number of plans for next year, including Political Warfare Bureau Director Wen Chen-kuo (聞振國) leading a delegation to visit the Pentagon, at which time the two sides would discuss strategic goals and cooperation on matters of psychological warfare.
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT: A new committee would investigate a backlog of US weapons sales to Taiwan, said its chairman, US Representative Mike Gallagher The US should formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and end its outdated and counterproductive “one China” policy, US Representative Tom Tiffany and 18 other US lawmakers wrote in a petition. “It is time to change the status quo and recognize the reality denied by the US government for decades: Taiwan is an independent nation,” Tiffany told the Epoch Times. “As our long-standing and valued partner, correctly acknowledging their independence from communist China is long overdue.” The resolution also asks the administration of US President Joe Biden to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and to negotiate a bilateral free-trade
GUT FEELING: In the leaked memo, US Air Force General Mike Minihan urged mobile command personnel to go to a firing range, shoot at a target and ‘aim for the head’ A four-star US Air Force general has warned of a conflict with China as early as 2025 — most likely over Taiwan — and urged his commanders to push their units to achieve maximum operational battle readiness this year. In an internal memorandum that first emerged on social media on Friday, and was later confirmed as genuine by the Pentagon, Air Mobility Command Commander General Mike Minihan said that the main goal should be to deter “and, if required, defeat” China. “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025,” Minihan said. Minihan said that Taiwan’s presidential election
INCREASED RISK: The Omicron BA.2.75 subvariant has higher immune evasive capacity, but the CECC is more concerned about newer subvariants such as XBB and BQ.1 With the peak season for infectious respiratory diseases coming to an end, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that details of the next phase of lifting COVID-19 masking rules — removing the mask requirement in most indoor settings — are to be announced this week. Discussions on lifting other COVID-19 restrictions are also being held, including further easing border control measures, home isolation requirements and revising the definition for reporting cases, while also downgrading COVID-19 to a lower category of notifiable communicable disease, said Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC. As the daily
DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM: Czech president-elect Petr Pavel said his nation stands firmly on the side of democracy and would boost cooperation with Taipei in all aspects Czech president-elect Petr Pavel spoke by telephone with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday, a highly unusual move given the lack of formal ties and a diplomatic coup for Taipei. Tsai spoke with Pavel for 15 minutes in a harmonious atmosphere, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) was also present during the conversation. Lin quoted Pavel as telling Tsai that Taiwan is a trustworthy partner, adding that the Czech Republic stands firmly on the side of democracy and supports Taiwan in maintaining a lively democratic system free from authoritarian coercion. The Czech Republic would