TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An additional US$55 million (NT$1.75 billion) in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) that the U.S. freed up for Taiwan last week was described by a Republican senator as "a pittance" compared to its vast needs to defend itself from a potential Chinese invasion.

On Sept. 11, the US Department of State informed Congress that it would divert US$55 million in FMF originally meant for Egypt to Taiwan due to Cairo's stance on the war in Ukraine and its human rights record. Combined with an additional US$80 million in funding the Biden administration said on Aug. 31, the total FMF for Taiwan has risen to US$480 million, per Bloomberg.

The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, on Sept. 14 criticized the additional funding as being inadequate. "The Biden administration’s decision to provide U$55 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan is a pittance compared to Taiwan’s enormous needs for self-defense and the United States’ clear national interest in supporting Taipei."

He said it is "doubly disappointing" that rather than requesting standalone FMF funds for Taiwan, the Biden administration decided to access these monies from a "different security partner." Wicker said that this was particularly counterproductive as Egypt has "proven receptive" to the White House's human rights concerns.

Wicker warned that "senior flag and general officers continue to suggest that Taiwan is entering a window of maximum danger because of the Chinese military threat in the next two to four years." He said that it is "imperative that we assist Taiwan in arming itself in a fashion reflective of that sobering fact."

He argued that failing to do so "invites strategic catastrophe."

On Dec. 23, 2022, Biden signed into law the US$858 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes the U.S. State Department to lend Taiwan up to US$2 billion under the "Foreign Military Finance" (FMF) grant and loan assistance program designed to purchase U.S-made weapons and defense equipment. Both the Senate and House voted overwhelmingly in approval of the US$10 billion in "Foreign Military Finance grant assistance," which would have been provided in increments of US$2 billion over five years and US$2 billion in loans for military weapons.

However, the US$10 billion aid package was removed during negotiations on the overall government budget for 2023, partly out of concern that funding from other defense programs would need to be cut to make room for the aid package for Taiwan. When Biden signed the US$1.65 trillion Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act into law, only the US$2 billion in loans for Taiwan remained intact.

Wicker, along with Senator Jim Risch fellow ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, as well as Representatives Michael McCaul and Mike Rogers, chairmen of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, in February 2023 called on Biden to include US$2 billion in FMF grants for Taiwan in his proposed budget for 2024, reported Reuters.