In a first, US approves Taiwan military aid transfer under scheme reserved for sovereign nations
- American officials quick to say US$80 million funding through Foreign Military Financing programme does not represent a change in official policy
- Transfer of military equipment ‘to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defence capabilities’ expected to infuriate China
Congress was notified of the US$80 million deal on Wednesday, a State Department spokesperson said, speaking on background. The structure of the sale, using a provision known as Foreign Military Financing (FMF), was expected to anger China, which considers the self-governed island part of its territory.
“This is the first-ever FMF provision to Taiwan,” the spokesperson said. “The United States makes available to Taiwan defence articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defence capability.”
Previous military sales to Taiwan have been approved under other mechanisms that do not necessarily imply statehood. US officials said the funding provision did not represent a change in its one-China policy.
FMF is a “critical foreign policy tool” to ensure that “coalition partners and friendly foreign governments are equipped and trained to work toward common security goals”, according to the US Defense Department website.
Analysts said the deal is part of Washington’s evolving relationship with Taiwan as the US increasingly focuses on the Indo-Pacific region.
Chinese defence ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian slammed the deal as “hurting the security and benefits of the people in Taiwan” at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
“As always, the People’s Liberation Army will take all necessary measures to resolutely retaliate,” he said.
China in July accused Washington of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg and ammunition depot” after the White House announced the US$345 million military aid package for Taipei, which came directly out of Defence Department stockpiles.
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“These are all ways to deal with that problem and to make sure Taiwan gets what it needs without an unacceptable delay,” said Raymond Burghardt, president of the Pacific Century Institute. “Of course Beijing will react bitterly.”
The only other time Washington has reportedly provided a non-nation-state with military aid under this form of funding was to the African Union, an organisation of sovereign states based in Ethiopia.
The State Department did not specify which military equipment or systems would be paid for under the programme, according to AP, based on a copy of the notification.
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Other equipment and services that might possibly be involved, it said, included protective gear, some small, medium and heavy weapons systems, ammunition, armoured and infantry fighting vehicles and training for Taiwanese military forces.
“The United States has an abiding interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, which is critical to regional and global security and prosperity,” the State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday.
House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said after Wednesday’s announcement he was “glad the administration is further implementing our bipartisan Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act by finally providing FMF to Taiwan”.
“These weapons will not only help Taiwan and protect other democracies in the region, but also strengthen the US deterrence posture and ensure our national security from an increasingly aggressive CCP.”
Additional reporting by Associated Press