US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law a defense appropriations bill that includes more than US$1.4 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan.
The bill allocates US$1 billion to reinforce security cooperation with Taiwan and an additional US$150 million to replace and upgrade defense articles provided to Taiwan.
It also ensures that at least US$300 million would be allocated to Taiwan under foreign military financing, with the US secretaries of state and defense prioritizing delivery of defense articles and related services.
Photo: Cheng I-hwa, Bloomberg
The bill further specifies that at least US$4 million must be allocated to the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF), a platform jointly established by Taiwan and the US in 2015 and overseen by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
The Consolidated Appropriation Act is a joint package that comprises five bills and covers a total of US$1.2 trillion in spending. It was passed by the US House of Representatives on Jan. 23 and approved by the US Senate on Friday last week.
The signing of the act ended a four-day partial government shutdown in Washington.
The legislation would allocate US$1 billion to the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative (TSCI) from funds appropriated to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The funds would be available for use through Sept. 30 next year.
The TSCI is designed to bolster Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities and provide funding for areas such as medical support, training and joint development of uncrewed systems with the US, a news release from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York said.
Meanwhile, funding for the GCTF would enable it to continue its work with global partners to co-organize a series of international workshops, training events and exchanges, which facilitate knowledge-sharing and build global capacity to address critical challenges, the AIT said.
GCTF members include Australia, Canada and Japan.
The legislation also states that none of the allocated funds can be used to produce, procure or display any map that incorrectly depicts Taiwan’s territory or social and economic systems of islands.
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