US Congressmen Rick Scott and Scott Perry yesterday introduced the “Taiwan PLUS Act” to strengthen US-Taiwan defense cooperation and expedite weapons delivery in the face of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intimidation.
The act would reduce the review process for requests for critical weapons from 30 days to 15 days, and boost the financial thresholds to the same levels as “NATO Plus” partners.
The current threshold for requesting major defense equipment is US$14 million, defense services US$50 million and construction support US$200 million. These would be increased to US$25 million, US$100 million, and US$300 million, respectively, a news release by bill sponsor Congressman Scott Perry said.
Photo: CNA
It would elevate Taiwan to the same status as Australia, Israel and Japan, it said.
“The Taiwan PLUS Act will cut red tape and make it faster and easier for Taiwan to purchase the weapons it needs from the US to defend itself should Communist China invade,” Senator Rick Scott said, a co-sponsor of the bill.
Taiwan was the top Foreign Military Sales customer in the fiscal year 2020 and has been Japan’s third-largest buyer since 1950, the news release said.
“As the CCP continues to escalate its hostile posture, the Taiwan PLUS Act sends a clear and unambiguous message: America stands with Taiwan, and will ensure our partners have the means to protect peace, freedom, and security in the Indo-Pacific,” it added.
The act must now pass both the US House and the Senate before being signed into law by the US President.
In other news, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday attended a full-committee hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Committee titled “FY26 State Department Posture: Protecting American Interests.”
Reforms to the Foreign Military Sales program were needed to address delays in sales and financing deals, he said.
In a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Rubio said, “Deterrence [against the CCP] obviously begins with Taiwan’s own self-defense capabilities,” adding that deterrence is then continued by having a “credible regional deterrent, not just the [US] but Japan and other allied countries around the world.”
“We have to understand that every time there’s a conflict in the Middle East or a conflict in Europe... we have to dedicate resources and time.... that we’re not dedicating to the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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