TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday (Dec. 8) passed a bill allocating the coming year's defense budget which will officially include US$10 billion (NT$305.7 billion) in military aid for Taiwan to bolster its defenses against an invasion by China.

The House of Representatives passed the US$857.9 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2023 with a vote of 350 in favor and 80 opposed. The senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, and if passed, it will be sent to the White House to be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

In the finalized version of the 2023 NDAA, the U.S. State Department is authorized to provide Taiwan with up to US$2 billion in "Foreign Military Finance grant assistance" each year from 2023 to 2027 for the purchase of weaponry and military equipment. In addition, the bill authorizes US$2 billion in loans to enable Taiwan to purchase arms from the U.S.

The bill also authorizes the U.S. president to build a "regional contingency stockpile" for Taiwan that includes up to US$100 million worth of munitions. It also affords Taiwan the same treatment as major non-NATO allies on the southern and southeastern flanks in receiving the priority to obtain "excess defense materials" from the U.S.

In order to expedite the delivery of arms to Taiwan, the bill requires the State Department and the Department of Defense to prioritize and expedite the processing of Taiwan's arms purchase requests, and to "not delay the processing of requests for bundling purposes."

The bill also pointed out in the "sense of Congress" that holding joint military exercises with Taiwan is an important element to improve combat readiness. It called for Taiwan's Navy to be invited to participate in the 2024 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises.

The bill stated that since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was elected in 2016, the Chinese government has launched coordinated campaigns against Taiwan in an attempt to weaken the country "diplomatically, economically, and militarily." In order to ensure the interests of the U.S. and maintain the ability of the Taiwanese people to determine their own future, the bill's authors wrote that "it is necessary to reinforce Taiwan's diplomatic, economic, and territorial space."

The document also pointed out that the decision of the U.S. to establish diplomatic relations with China was based on the expectation that Taiwan's future is resolved through peaceful means. Therefore, any attempts to dictate Taiwan's future through anything other than peaceful means, "including boycotts and embargoes, is a grave concern to the United States."