The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes up to US$12 billion in grants and loans to Taiwan to buy US weapons over the next five years.
The bill passed the Democratic Party-controlled House on a 350 to 80 vote. It is expected to clear the Senate next week before being sent to the White House for US President Joe Biden to sign into law.
The act would authorize up to US$2 billion in annual grants from next year to 2027, and an additional US$2 billion in loans for Taiwan to use to bolster its military capabilities with weapons from the US.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
It also authorizes a regional contingency stockpile for Taiwan that consists of munitions and other appropriate defense articles costing up to US$100 million a year for use in the event of a conflict.
The bill gives Taiwan the same treatment as major non-NATO allies — most of which are in South America and the western Pacific — in priority to obtain “excess defense articles” from the US.
The act also recommends that the US administration invite Taiwan to attend the US-organized Rim of the Pacific Exercise, a regional military drill, in 2024.
The bill states that the US secretary of state and secretary of defense must prioritize and expedite requests from Taiwan under the Foreign Military Sales program without delaying the processing for bundling purposes.
The bill was proposed following China’s increased military actions in and near the Taiwan Strait in recent years, and amid growing concerns in Taipei and Washington that China’s military buildup has far exceeded that of Taiwan.
However, the percentage of Taiwan’s GDP spent on weapons purchases has not grown measurably since the election of the current Taiwanese administration, despite increased threats from China.
While purchasing US-made weapons each year, Taipei is also increasing its manufacture of locally made weaponry.
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
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