Taiwan-related key points of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act

[Reporter Yang Chengyu/Taipei Report] US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Menendez and Republican Chief Congressman Ritchie jointly sent a letter to the Senate on the 15th together with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Meeks and Republican Chief Representative McCall Leaders of both houses and parties called for at least US$500 million to be allocated to Taiwan from "Foreign Military Financing" (FMF) as a priority.

The actual amount of military aid depends on the appropriations bill

The US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA 2023) completed the procedures of both houses of Congress on the 15th and will be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature to complete the legislation and come into effect.

However, the outside world is worried that the FMF quota is limited, and only the "appropriations" bill has the power to determine how the funds are used. Therefore, NDAA 2023 authorizes the provision of US$10 billion in military aid to Taiwan in the next five years. The exact amount is still to be negotiated.

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The joint letter was sent by four heavyweight congressmen to Senate Democratic leader Schumer, Republican leader McConnell, House Democratic leader Pelosi, and Republican leader McCarthy.

In addition to financial aid to Taiwan, the congressmen also called for the provision of 500 million U.S. dollars from the FMF to Ukraine, and 2.5 billion U.S. dollars for U.S. partners who support Ukraine.

$500 million.

Xiao Meiqin, my country's representative to the United States, thanked the four lawmakers via Twitter: "Thank you for your commitment to support Taiwan's urgent defense needs for the common interests of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."

Partner Security Assistance Before Conflict

The lawmakers emphasized that, as the war in Ukraine has shown, the United States must provide strategic, long-term security assistance to partners before a conflict occurs so that it can effectively deter aggression and, if necessary, respond to its aggression.

Long-term planning, on the other hand, is necessary in order to provide support during a crisis without putting undue pressure on U.S. defense stocks.

Members also mentioned that FMF, as a core project in the US "security toolkit", is not only underfunded for a long time, but also less than 5% is spent on foreign policy related to the Indo-Pacific region or Eastern Europe.

Through FMF, it can help restart anti-China production capacity

The lawmakers pointed out that for Taiwan, the FMF can help restart and expand critical U.S. production lines that are critical to developing asymmetric combat capabilities against China.

The FMF will allow us to develop a joint, long-term strategic plan to acquire, deploy, and sustain critical capabilities over a multi-year period.

The threat Taiwan faces is imminent and unprecedented in scale, and the United States must use all available tools to deal with it.

Menendez, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

(Photo by Central News Agency)