US to fast-track $460m in military aid to Taiwan, amid China’s protests

WASHINGTON – The United States will supply

Taiwan with US$345 million (S$460 million) in defence equipment, services and training

, using the fast-track authority that it has relied on to speed arms to Ukraine.

The package will include “critical defensive stockpiles, multi-domain awareness, anti-armour and air-defence capabilities,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Meiners, a US Defence Department spokesman, without giving details on the weaponry that will be provided.

The Biden administration has emphasised its longstanding commitment to support Taiwan’s self-defence, but officials in Beijing have accused the US of stoking tensions between the world’s two biggest economies over its backing of the self-governing island.

“We are committed to helping them get the capability they need to defend themselves,” US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday. “So this is no change from what we’ve done in the past.”

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, quickly criticised the decision.

“China is firmly opposed to US’ military ties with and arms sales to Taiwan,” Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said in a statement. Mr Liu called on the US to “stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait”.

The weapons and support equipment will come from existing stockpiles under what is known as Presidential Drawdown Authority. That lets the US sidestep the often lengthy process of contracting and producing weapons, which lawmakers say has resulted in a US$19 billion backlog in armaments that have been approved but not yet delivered to Taiwan.

The US Congress authorised President Joe Biden to use as much as US$1 billion in US inventory for the island democracy in the National Defence Authorisation Act for the current year. Congress did not appropriate funds to replace the equipment, so the Pentagon will have to seek that money later.

Mr Austin said the drawdown would not affect support for Ukraine.

Lt-Col Meiners said the Pentagon will not provide a timeline, but that the administration is “working expeditiously” to deliver the assistance.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry thanked the US for its firm commitment to the island’s security in a statement on Saturday that did not offer further details or address the issue of assistance.

“Taiwan and US will continue close cooperation on security topics to maintain the peaceful and stable status quo across the strait,” the statement read.

US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House China Committee, said in a statement that the committee had called for bolstering Taiwan’s self-defence.

“This decision by the Biden administration is welcome news for those of us aiming to strengthen stability and security in the Indo-Pacific,” Mr Krishnamoorthi said.

Republicans were more critical. “I am glad to see the Biden administration send this much-needed weapons package to Taiwan as communist China eyes further aggression. However, this should have occurred much earlier and could have been more robust,” House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul said in a statement.

The Biden administration has sought to improve ties with Beijing in recent months, with a string of high-profile visits to China by Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Lt-Col Meiners said the timing of the drawdown announcement, given in a brief statement on Friday evening, was not influenced by Mr Blinken or Dr Yellen’s travel.

The Biden administration and its allies have grown increasingly concerned about the pace of China’s military modernisation and have warned that the country’s leaders want its armed forces to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027.

Mr Austin and director of national intelligence Avril Haines have said they do not see an effort by China to seize Taiwan by force as imminent. BLOOMBERG