Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson asked the House of Representatives to vote on the 21st Taiwan time and passed a bill for military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in one go, totaling US$95 billion. Among them, the “Indo-Pacific Security Supplementary Appropriations Act of 2024” directly targeted Taiwan , aiding US$1.9 billion to provide Taiwan with national defense assistance and military education and training.
and a bill that will provide US$2 billion in “foreign military financing” (FMF) funding to countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan. These two bills will enter the Senate this week and will be passed as scheduled without any surprise.
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The U.S. House of Representatives passes a $1.9 billion military aid bill to Taiwan with a majority vote
In the past six months, Republican congressmen who supported former U.S. President Trump have opposed the Ukraine aid bill and even threatened to remove Mike Johnson, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, if the bill was passed. Johnson decided to hold a vote after communication was hopeless. .
On the 21st Taipei time, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 360 to 50 to impose sanctions on Iran and freeze Russian assets, and passed the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act by 385 to 34 to directly impose sanctions on Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific countries. A total of US$8.1 billion has been provided to counter the Chinese threat; US$61 billion has been provided to Ukraine to fight against Russia, and US$26.4 billion has been provided to Israel.
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Two days before the vote in the House of Representatives, on April 19, the U.S. Congressional Research Service also published a report on the U.S. military capabilities in assisting Taiwan to help U.S. lawmakers more quickly understand the political and military relations between the United States and Taiwan.
Taiwan and the United States have signed an MOU to cooperate in coastal patrol
The congressional report stated that since the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, the U.S. military has withdrawn its military personnel, but it has been an “open secret” that a small number of U.S. military personnel work in an advisory capacity in Taiwan. In addition, it was obtained from the Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Information Center. The quarterly report states that the number of U.S. troops currently in Taiwan is 41.
The report pointed out that some media had sought confirmation from the U.S. Department of Defense, but the Pentagon’s response “would not comment on specific operations, engagements, or training related to the U.S.-Taiwan defense relationship.”
In the part of the United States assisting Taiwan, one part is a cooperation project. In March 2021, the United States and Taiwan signed a memorandum to establish a Coast Guard Working Group to strengthen maritime cooperation between the two countries in areas such as disaster relief, rescue, search and rescue, and reducing illegal, Unreported and unregulated fishing activities, the US Coast Guard (US Coast Guard) will strengthen cooperation with the East Asian Coast Guard (including the Taiwan Coast Guard) is an opportunity to counter China’s maritime “grey zone” coercion.
Taiwan’s air force regularly trains in the United States, with more training planned this year
The most public U.S. training for the Taiwanese military is the regular training of F-16 pilots at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. The U.S. Congress report pointed out that it is rumored that Taiwan’s military has also conducted training with the national militia of Hawaii, Michigan, Utah and Washington. This should refer to the army. In fact, Taiwan will begin receiving training through the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program in 2023. The United States sent retired senior military officers to observe Taiwan’s annual Han-Kuang military exercises.
The report also pointed out that from 2020 to 2022, when COVID-19 occurred, Taiwan was the world’s largest buyer of U.S. arms sales, including more than US$300 million in ammunition and US$180 million in military equipment and materials. However, it also points out the troubles faced by Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, such as the long-term relationship between the military’s old guard and the Kuomintang, which creates a gap between the ruling party and the military, and the deficiencies in the defense of Taiwan’s outer islands, which face threats.
The U.S. Congressional report pointed out that Biden administration officials have repeatedly stated that the Taiwan issue is “neither imminent nor inevitable.” CIA Director William J. Burns was quoted as saying that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has instructed the People’s Liberation Army to “prepare for a successful invasion by 2027.” This does not mean that he has decided to invade Taiwan by force in 2027 or any other year, but it reminds Xi Jinping of the seriousness of his focus and ambition.
