A US senator has reintroduced a bill aimed at authorizing Washington to lend or lease defense equipment to Taipei to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
US Senator Marsha Blackburn on Thursday introduced the Taiwan Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act, cosponsored by senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio.
The content of the bill is the same as a bill Blackburn sponsored last year that failed to make it through the US Senate.
Photo: Bloomberg
Under the bill, Washington would be permitted to lend or lease defense equipment to Taiwan with interest, as part of efforts to protect the country from “potential aggression carried out by the People’s Liberation Army of China.”
Acts of aggression by Beijing include a full or partial naval blockade of Taiwan, an amphibious assault or ground invasion, or a seizure of one or more of Taiwan’s outlying islands, among others, the bill states.
It stipulates that the US military should report to the US Congress about the defense items it deems “appropriate” to loan or lease to Taiwan within 90 days of the bill being signed into law.
No later than 60 days after the bill is enacted, the US president should establish expedited procedures for the delivery of loaned or leased defense items to Taiwan, it states.
Blackburn, who visited Taiwan and met with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in August last year, said in a statement that the bill aims to “ensure Taiwan has the capacity to defend itself and strengthen the United States’ commitment to preserving freedom around the globe.”
US representatives Michelle Steele and Jimmy Panetta introduced a companion bill on March 1.
Steele said in a statement that the passage of the bill “will send an unmistakable message” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that the US “stands with our allies and is prepared to arm Taiwan with the tools it needs to defend itself from a CCP attack.”
A US funding bill signed into law by US President Joe Biden in December last year authorizes Washington to provide up to US$2 billion in direct loans to Taiwan for military purposes under the US Foreign Military Financing Program.
Taipei at that time said it would work closely with all branches of the US government to ensure those provisions are realized in line with its national policy.
Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday issued a joint declaration, which, among other things, called for the countries to “reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and call for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.”
It also said that France and the UK would “coordinate on their concerns regarding China’s challenge to the rules-based international order, and will work with partners to manage increasing systemic rivalry and competition.”
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
STANDING TOGETHER: Amid China’s increasingly aggressive activities, nations must join forces in detecting and dealing with incursions, a Taiwanese official said Two senior Philippine officials and one former official yesterday attended the Taiwan International Ocean Forum in Taipei, the first high-level visit since the Philippines in April lifted a ban on such travel to Taiwan. The Ocean Affairs Council hosted the two-day event at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center. Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Coast Guard spokesman Grand Commodore Jay Tarriela and former Philippine Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Michel del Rosario participated in the forum. More than 100 officials, experts and entrepreneurs from 15 nations participated in the forum, which included discussions on countering China’s hybrid warfare
MORE DEMOCRACY: The only solution to Taiwan’s current democratic issues involves more democracy, including Constitutional Court rulings and citizens exercising their civil rights , Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is not the “motherland” of the Republic of China (ROC) and has never owned Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. The speech was the third in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to deliver across Taiwan. Taiwan is facing external threats from China, Lai said at a Lions Clubs International banquet in Hsinchu. For example, on June 21 the army detected 12 Chinese aircraft, eight of which entered Taiwanese waters, as well as six Chinese warships that remained in the waters around Taiwan, he said. Beyond military and political intimidation, Taiwan