Taiwan yesterday thanked the US for approving a military transfer of US$80 million under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program which, foreign media said, is normally used for sovereign states.
The US Department of State on Wednesday notified the US Congress of the aid, saying that the items provided through the FMF would “be used to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities through joint and combined defense capability and enhanced maritime domain awareness and maritime security capability,” The Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday.
After years of assisting Taiwan through its Foreign Military Sales program, this is the first time the US is providing military aid under the FMF to Taiwan.
Photo: EPA
The transfer is part of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, which US President Joe Biden signed in December, that allows up to US$2 billion in direct loans to Taiwan for military purposes.
The AP said that although the package is “modest” in amount, “the implications of using the so-called Foreign Military Financing program to provide it will likely infuriate China.”
“FMF simply enables eligible partner nations to purchase US defense articles, services, and training through either Foreign Military Sales or, for a limited number of countries, through the foreign military financing of direct commercial contracts program,” The AP quoted two US officials as saying on condition of anonymity.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The language used in the aid “implied that Taiwan is or could be compared to a ‘nation’ or a ‘country,’” The AP said, adding that the only other time the US has provided military assistance under the FMF to a non-nation-state was to the African Union.
A State Department spokesperson told the Central News Agency that the aid is in compliance with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the US’ long-held “one China” policy remains unchanged.
US Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that he was glad the Biden administration decided to provide the aid to Taiwan.
“These weapons will not only help Taiwan and protect other democracies in the region, but also strengthen the US’ deterrence posture and ensure our national security from an increasingly aggressive CCP,” he said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
The notification provided to the US Congress said that the items that would be paid for under FMF might include: air and coastal defense systems, armored vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, drones, ballistic missile and cyber defenses, and advanced communications equipment, The AP said.
The fund might also be used to pay for protective gear, an array of small, medium and heavy weapons systems, ammunition, armored and infantry fighting vehicles, as well as training for Taiwanese military forces, it said.
The package followed the military assistance of US$345 million provided by the US to Taiwan in July through the Presidential Drawdown Authority that the US Congress authorized last year and the US$500 million arms sale package, which includes F-16 Infrared Search and Track systems, to the nation earlier this month.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for helping Taiwan strengthen its self-defense capabilities based on the TRA and the “six assurances.”
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS