The White House’s 2025 fiscal budget proposal, released on Monday, includes a US$100 million request to assist Taiwan in enhancing deterrence capabilities, and maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The funding would help the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development bolster and expand Taiwan’s collaboration with international partners, the department said in a statement.
It described the US$100 million request as a “historic investment in Taiwan’s security” through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) mechanism “to strengthen deterrence and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
Photo: Reuters
The request comes after US President Joe Biden signed off on a US$80 million grant through the FMF in November last year to bolster Taiwan’s military capabilities.
US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma said it was “historic” because it would create a dedicated funding item for Taiwan.
“We break out Taiwan for the first time and have a specific line item for it. It reaffirms our commitment to security assistance for Taiwan, and to a free and open Indo-Pacific. I think it’s very clear. I think it stands on its own,” Verma said.
Regarding whether the funding would provide for a permanent training mission for US special forces in Taiwan, Verma said he did not think so, adding that it was just “traditional security assistance.”
“There’s also IMET [International Military Education and Training] assistance, and again, you have to read that together with the totality of our assistance in the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the new mandatory funding we’ve also added,” he said.
IMET is intended to establish rapport between the US military and those of other nations to build alliances.
In a separate budget overview released by the US Department of Defense, its proposal includes a US$500 million request to replenish US weapons stocks in Taiwan using the Presidential Drawdown Authority.
The “first-time funding request” would “address aggression in the region and ensure continued support to our allies,” while enabling the Pentagon to replace its inventory of “munitions and equipment and maintain readiness,” the defense department said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS