US lawmakers have included an article calling for sharing lessons learned from the war in Ukraine with Taiwan in the draft of the Intelligence Authorization Act (IIA) for fiscal 2026.
The US Senate recently added to the bill an order to the Ukraine Lessons Learned Working Group to evaluate sharing its findings with Taiwan to guide defense acquisition and capabilities development, the Central News Agency (CNA) said in an exclusive report yesterday.
The 2026 IIA must be reconciled and passed by both chambers of the US Congress — the Senate and the House of Representatives — before heading to US President Donald Trump’s desk.
Photo: CNA
The study group — which the US Congress authorized last year — is a joint task force organized by the Pentagon and the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence to draw tactical and operational lessons from the conflict.
Former US National Security Council director for Taiwan Affairs Marvin Park said that the article encompassed aspects of intelligence operations, ammunition expenditures by munition type, command and control, and force dispersion.
This meant US officials would be able to guide Taiwan in making decisions about the types and quantity of arms it seeks to acquire by applying knowledge garnered in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, he said.
The proposed article marks the first time the Ukraine study group would be mandated by law to research and evaluate the potential for sharing information with Taiwan, as oral reports had sufficed in the past, he said.
The Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act in 2023 still outweighs the article in the 2026 IAA bill in terms of relevance to Taiwan’s quest to bolster its defense capabilities, Park said.
That law enables the use of the presidential drawdown authority to earmark materiel stockpiled in US military reserves for Taiwan, in response to concern about delays in arms sales, he said.
Former CIA analyst Peter Mattis told CNA in a written statement that the article in the 2026 IAA bill showed that US lawmakers and their staffers remain committed to maintaining Taiwan’s autonomy and defense.
However, mandating the study group to evaluate a potential policy is not a binding order for its enactment, as the authority for making such decisions falls under the executive branch’s discretionary powers.
The article in the bill signals recognition that mobilizing a nation’s defense industrial base involves overcoming transnational supply chain and procurement challenges by collaborating with like-minded nations, he said.
John Dotson, director of the Washington-based Global Taiwan Institute think tank, said that the article lacked specificity and binding force, despite being a sign of a possible effort to strengthen intelligence sharing between the US and Taiwan.
Any part in a proposed bill is subject to amendment or deletion in the legislative process, he said, adding that the executive branch is at liberty to ignore such directives.
Many US officials are reluctant to broaden Taiwan’s access to sensitive information due to fears of Chinese infiltration, he said, adding that the bill remains surrounded by uncertainty.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
RSS