TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A bill that has just passed a Senate committee calls for allocating US$4.5 billion (NT$140 billion) in security assistance for Taiwan over the course of four years.
On Wednesday (Sept. 14), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, which was authored by U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Lindsey Graham. One of the main provisions of the bill is to further boost Taiwan's security through billions of dollars worth of additional arms and assistance.
The proposed legislation calls for a "new initiative" to strengthen Taiwan's defensive capabilities by providing approximately US$4.5 billion in security assistance over the next four years. It also urges the designation of Taiwan as a "major Non-NATO ally."
In a section titled "Taiwan Security Assistance Initiative," the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense are to establish these new initiatives that are designed to accelerate the modernization of Taiwan's defense capabilities necessary to "deter or, if necessary to defeat an invasion of Taiwan by the People's Republic of China."
Prominently featured in this section is the full gamut of asymmetric weaponry that should be assessed for Taiwan's acquisition:
- Long-range precision fires
- Integrated air and missile defense systems
- Anti-ship cruise missiles
- Land-attack cruise missiles
- Coastal defense
- Anti-armor
- Undersea warfare
- Survivable swarming maritime assets
- Manned and unmanned aerial systems
- Mining and countermining capabilities
- Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities
- Command and control systems
The section also calls for providing assistance to Taiwan for recruiting, training, and equipping both its regular army and reserve forces, the latter of which has been in sore need of additional training. Other areas touched on that need boosting included informational campaigns, critical infrastructure, and cybersecurity.
The bill seeks to modernize Taiwan's defense capabilities to better "delay, degrade, and deny" efforts by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to carry out gray zone activities, enter the Taiwan Strait, or secure "lodgment on Taiwan." This modernization of Taiwan's military will also be designed to prevent the PLA from "decapitating, seizing control of, or otherwise neutralizing or rendering ineffective" Taiwan's government.
The US$4.5 billion in weapons are to be broken down over the next years in the following increments:
- $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2023
- $750,000,000 for fiscal year 2024
- $1,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2025
- $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2026