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

Taiwan

Mark Magnierin Washington

Published: 5:24am, 31 Aug 2023

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In a deal that is relatively modest in size but potentially significant politically, the White House approved its first-ever transfer of military equipment to Taiwan under a programme normally reserved for helping sovereign independent nations.

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.”

In its advisory, the administration of US President Joe Biden said the material would be used to “strengthen Taiwan’s self-defence capabilities through joint and combined defence capability and enhanced maritime domain awareness and maritime security capability”, according to the Associated Press.

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.

“I see it as an efficiency move, following the US$345 million Pentagon transfer earlier this month, and a case of trying to treat Taiwan as more of a regular normal partner,” said Sean King, senior vice-president at Park Strategies, a consultancy.

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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Analysts added that the drain on military equipment for the Ukraine war has caused anxiety in Washington about maintaining a dependable flow of equipment to Taiwan, leading to the late July stockpile delivery and Wednesday’s FMF funding.

“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.”

In recent months, the two economic giants have embarked on a series of high-level confidence-building visits ahead of a potential in-person discussion between Biden and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting in San Francisco in November.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has been in China this week, the fourth senior American official to visit in the past 10 weeks. During meetings, the two sides said that strong economic ties between the world’s two largest economies would play a key role in managing their differences and easing political tensions.

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.

However, it gave a broad range of items that would be eligible, including armoured vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, drones, ballistic missile and cyber defences, air and coastal defence systems, and advanced communications equipment.

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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.

China views Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunited by force if necessary. Few countries, including the United States, recognise the self-governing island as an independent state.

But Washington is committed by law to support Taiwan’s military defence capability and by policy to help expand Taipei’s presence in global health, crime prevention and aviation – objectives the Chinese Communist Party opposes.

“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