The US Department of Defense intends to allocate US$850 million for the US Indo-Pacific Command to replenish weapons stockpiles used for military aid to Taiwan, an unclassified department spending plan delivered to the US Congress on Monday showed.
The funds would be sourced from the US$152 billion the department obtained through a reconciliation bill passed last year, the report said.
The funds are to be used to strengthen joint task forces’ combat capabilities and to purchase new equipment to replace equipment being provided to Taiwan, it said.
Photo: Reuters
The decision to use existing stockpiles to support Taiwan stemmed from the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act, which authorizes the US to provide Taiwan with equipment from the defense department’s stocks to accelerate the pace of deliveries.
“US arms transfers have been the most concrete US contribution to Taiwan’s defense capabilities. Most of these transfers are Foreign Military Sales (FMS)... From 2015 to 2025, the executive branch notified Congress of more than US$39 billion in FMS to Taiwan. The executive branch has announced three PDA [Presidential Drawdown Authority] packages for Taiwan totaling US$1.5 billion,” to date, a US Congressional Research Service report published on Feb. 3 said.
Separately, a US Department of State strategic plan for this year through 2030 states that “how the US responds to the rise of China will be defining story of the 21st century,” and is key to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
“The US must establish a favorable military balance in the Indo-Pacific to keep the trade routes free and open and to deter aggression,” the report said, while citing China’s unprecedented military buildup in the region over the past decade.
“The [state] department will work to deepen relationships with allies,” and encourage increased defense spending, invest in deterrence measures, and allow the US military greater access to critical infrastructure and resources, it said.
The US maintains a strong interest in a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region and desires neither war nor regime change, it said, adding that the US would consistently seek open lines of communication with China, and the means to reduce misunderstandings and risks.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
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