President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday approved a first military transfer to Taiwan under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program normally used for sovereign states.
According to a notification sent to Congress and seen by Reuters, congressional committees were informed of the State Department’s intention to obligate up to $80 million in FMF funds in direct support of Taiwan.
It outlined the material would “be used to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities through joint and combined defense capability and enhanced maritime domain awareness and maritime security capability.”
The announcement came just hours after the British House of Commons declared Taiwan is indeed an “independent country” not beholden to China as Foreign Secretary James Cleverly landed in Beijing.
In a direct repudiation of the CCP’s so-called “One China Policy”, a report published by Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee stated “Taiwan is already an independent country, under the name Republic of China (ROC)”.
In explaining the Pentagon’s move to direct military aid, AP reports two U.S. officials said: “The United States has provided Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Taiwan for years. FMF simply enables eligible partner nations to purchase U.S. defense articles, services, and training through either FMS or, for a limited number of countries, through the foreign military financing of direct commercial contracts (FMF/DCC) program.”
The officials were not authorized to comment publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
The only other time the U.S. has provided a non-nation-state with military assistance under FMF was to the African Union, an organization of sovereign states based in Ethiopia, according to American officials.
Members of Taiwan’s military reserve force march in Taoyuan, Taiwan, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. Taiwan has found itself under increasing pressure from Beijing, which views the self-governing island as part of its territory. (I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg via Getty)
The notification, a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press, did not specify what military equipment or systems would be paid for under FMF, which commits U.S. taxpayer dollars to pay for the supply of materiel to foreign countries.
But, it said items that could be covered would include: air and coastal defense systems, armored vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, drones, ballistic missile and cyber defenses, and advanced communications equipment.
It added that protective gear, an array of small, medium and heavy weapons systems, ammunition, armored and infantry fighting vehicles could also be included.
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