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.”
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
RSS