Both houses of the US Congress have made progress on their respective drafts of an annual defense policy bill — the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — that includes provisions to strengthen defense-related engagement with Taiwan.
In the US Senate, the Armed Services Committee on Thursday said that it had passed a draft version of the NDAA for fiscal year 2023 in a bipartisan 23-3 vote and had sent it to the full Senate for consideration.
A summary released by the committee said that the draft bill would require engagement with Taiwanese officials to develop and implement a multi-year plan for the acquisition of appropriate defensive capabilities.
Photo: Reuters
The bill would also mandate engagement with Taiwan on a series of combined training, exercises and planning activities, the committee said.
The US’ policy would be to maintain its armed forces “to deny a fait accompli against Taiwan,” to deter China from using military force to unilaterally change the “status quo” with Taiwan, the committee said in the summary.
The draft Senate bill calls for US$857.6 billion of defense spending, an increase of US$44 billion over the US$813.3 billion requested by US President Joe Biden.
That is an increase of US$87 billion from last year’s defense budget.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee on Monday released the full text of its draft version of the NDAA, which is still in the committee’s markup process and is to be reviewed today.
In its current form, the House’s draft bill largely hews to the final version of the NDAA that was signed into law last year, with the exception of an expanded “sense of Congress” section on US-Taiwan defense relations.
While last year’s version of the NDAA committed to supporting Taiwan’s acquisition of defense articles with an emphasis on asymmetric capabilities, this year’s draft specifies that this might include “anti-ship, coastal defense, anti-armor, air defense [and] undersea warfare” capabilities.
The section also contains a new phrase that says the US should be “committed to the defense of a free and open society in the face of aggressive efforts by [China] to curtail or influence the free exercise of rights or democratic franchise.”
The House draft would authorize a lower amount of US$802.4 billion of defense spending.
Typically, both houses of Congress pass their own versions of the NDAA and negotiate a reconciliation of the bill to be signed into law — a process that last year was not completed until December.
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
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
PEACE AND STABILITY: The two nations called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Taiwan Strait issues through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked France and Australia for voicing their support for Taiwan, saying that peace across the Taiwan Strait is crucial to the stability and prosperity of international society. France and Australia on Monday pledged to deepen ties with Taiwan and reiterated their support for its participation in international organizations at this year’s Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations in Paris. The meeting between French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) and Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles was the second
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