The US will send $500 million in military aid to Taiwan

The administration of US President Joe Biden plans to send $500 million in arms procurement aid to Taiwan using the same emergency decree that has been used dozens of times with Ukraine, he told the news agency on Friday. Reuters a source familiar with the plan.

As part of the 2023 budget, Congress approved up to $1 billion in arms aid for Taiwan using the Presidential Withdrawal Authority (PDA), a type of order that expedites security support and has allowed weapons to be sent to Ukraine.

This measure, which authorizes the president to transfer items and services from US reserves without congressional approval during an emergency, is the first of its kind for $1 billion.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has increased military pressure on the island in the past three years. Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control.

Last month, China staged military exercises around Taiwan after the territory’s President Tsai Ing-wen met with the head of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, in Los Angeles.

In February, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee stating that he intended to use emergency authority, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Friday.

The spokesman declined to comment on whether the United States was already authorizing the $500 million aid package.

“Our approach remains consistent with long-standing US policy (…) We are working hard to meet our obligations under the TRA (Taiwan Relations Act), and we will continue to do so,” the spokesperson said.

Since 1979, the relationship between the United States and Taiwan has been governed by the TRA, which provides a legal basis for providing the territory with the means to defend itself, but does not require Washington to come to its aid if attacked.

It was unclear what would be included in the aid program for Taiwan, which was first reported by the Bloomberg news service. The date is also unknown.

(With information from Reuters)

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