Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) yesterday thanked the US’ two major political parties and said that Taiwan and the US would jointly discuss how to best use the next fiscal year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) funds.
The US House Committee on Armed Services yesterday released the initial draft of next fiscal year’s NDAA, which authorizes up to US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative.
The draft has yet to be discussed in the House of Representatives; after which, the bill would be considered in the Senate and, if passed, head to the president to be ratified.
The initiative was mentioned in section 1242 of the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations part of the bill.
Koo said there was precedent for the funding in this fiscal year’s NDAA, and that the US’ two major political parties should be thanked for their bipartisan support in strengthening Taiwanese self-defense capabilities.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee convener Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) also thanked the US House of Representatives and the US Senate for their support.
Despite doubts about US-Taiwan relations after the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) earlier this month, the US has dispelled any rumors with its congressional support, Chen said, adding that military aid to Taiwan from Trump and former US president Joe Biden’s administrations has increased year-on-year.
National defense is not solely based on military purchases; domestic order placement and purchases are also important avenues, Chen said, adding that the draft drone industry creation act proposed by DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) would help provide diverse channels for arms procurement.
Chen said that the opposition parties’ doubts about the Ministry of National Defense’s capabilities to establish an industry were because they had failed to factor in assistance from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, adding that if the opposition parties were worried about a delay in military arms sales, they should be supportive of exploring commercial avenues to bolster Taiwan’s defense.
Additional reporting by CNA
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