New US Senate bill proposes expansion of Taiwan military aid
- Legislation sends ‘a clear message to Beijing not to make the same mistakes with Taiwan that Vladimir Putin has made in Ukraine’, says one of its authors
- Taiwan Policy Act of 2022 would provide almost US$4.5 billion in security assistance over four years and designate the island as a ‘major non-Nato ally’
In the latest effort by American lawmakers to protect Taiwan in the face of growing Chinese threats, a bipartisan pair of senators on Friday introduced expansive legislation that would increase defence assistance to the self-governing island.
The bill comes as many in Congress believe the US must do more because of China’s aggressive moves to undermine the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and potentially start a war. Those fears have only grown since Russia launched its own assault on Ukraine in February.
“As Beijing continues to seek to coerce and isolate Taiwan, there should be no doubt or ambiguity about the depth and strength of our determination to stand with the people of Taiwan and their democracy,” said Senator Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of the bill’s two authors.
The legislation, he said, would send “a clear message to Beijing not to make the same mistakes with Taiwan that Vladimir Putin has made in Ukraine”.
If it eventually becomes law, the bill, called the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, would provide almost US$4.5 billion in security assistance over the next four years; would designate Taiwan as a “major non-Nato ally” alongside Israel, Japan and South Korea, eligible for increased security cooperation with the US; and would create new sanctions for Chinese officials accused of “interfering with Taiwan’s territorial integrity”.
