The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the US Senate for passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2020, which requires the Pentagon to report Chinese interference in Taiwan’s elections and create plans to boost Taiwan-US cybersecurity cooperation.
After the Democrat-controlled US House of Representatives approved the bill 377-48 on Wednesday last week, the Republican-led Senate on Tuesday passed it 86-8.
The legislation has been forwarded to the White House, with US President Donald Trump expected to sign it into law.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
Article 5513 of the act requires the US director of national intelligence to deliver a report on Beijing’s interference or disruption campaigns targeting Taiwan’s elections and US responses to such campaigns within 45 days of an election in Taiwan.
The act also requires the US secretary of defense to submit a report on establishing a high-level and interagency US-Taiwan group to tackle new cybersecurity issues within 180 days of the act taking effect.
The Pentagon and the US Department of State would also be required to present a report within 180 days of the act’s implementation on the US’ Taiwan Relations Act; whether the Chinese government threatens Taiwan’s security, social order and economy; whether Beijing is changing the cross-strait military balance; and Taiwan’s expectation to determine its future via peaceful means.
Taiwan-US cooperation on cybersecurity is listed for the first time in the act, which also supports Taiwan’s resolve to bolster its self-defense capabilities and an increase in bilateral military exchanges, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement yesterday.
The ministry thanked the US for again demonstrating its firm support for Taiwan-US military cooperation, and for its concern about Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, she said.
The legislation provides a total of US$738 billion in base discretionary funding, as well as US$5.3 billion in emergency disaster relief funding, US Senator James Inhofe, chairman of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, said in a news release on Tuesday.
It includes landmark reforms for privatized military housing, establishes a US Space Force and ensures that US troops receive their largest pay raise (3.1 percent) in a decade, he said.
“It also sends a strong message to our allies and our adversaries, especially Russia and China. America is the leader of the free world, in large part because we are able to defend our values. This NDAA makes sure we keep it that way,” Inhofe said on Facebook.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS