The administration of President Joe Biden plans to send $567 in military aid to Taiwan as the United States continues to ignore China's so-called "red lines" related to America's relationship with the democratically governed island nation.
The weapons package is in the final stages and will be provided through the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). The PDA allows the U.S. to ship weapons to other countries directly from its own military stockpiles. The military aid will be the largest PDA package that Taiwan has received from the United States.
Since Washington ceased formal diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 because of a normalization deal with Beijing, America has always sold weapons to Taiwan. However, the U.S. never financed the purchases or provided the arms free of charge until 2023.
Last year, the U.S. gave Taiwan a $345 million arms package using the PDA. It provided $80 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF), which is a State Department program that gives foreign governments money to purchase U.S. arms.
Congress has authorized the provision of $1 billion in PDA for Taiwan each year. The $95 billion foreign military aid bill Biden previously signed in April included $1.9 billion that could be used to replenish the weapons sent to Taiwan.
The new form of U.S. support for Taiwan has angered Chinese officials, who often advise the U.S. that the issue is the "first red line" in U.S.-China relations that must not be crossed.
When Biden signed the foreign military aid bill in April, Beijing advised that new military aid for Taiwan could trigger more conflict.
"Getting closer militarily between the United States and the Taiwan region will not make the latter safer or save 'Taiwan independence' from doom. It will only heighten tensions and the risk of conflict and confrontation in the Taiwan Strait, and will eventually backfire," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. (Related: U.S. would prevail over China in a war over Taiwan, high-ranking U.S. military official claims.)
Taiwan the most "delicate" issue in America's relationship with China
Taiwan remains the most sensitive issue in America’s relationship with China. To date, Beijing insists that Taiwan is part of its rightful territory and won't rule out military force to one day unite with the democratically governed island.
On the other hand, the U.S. remains Taiwan’s oldest and largest supplier of military aid.
The stalemate has often resulted in public displays of frustration. At the 2024 Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's largest defense summit, China's Minister of National Defense Admiral Dong Jun warned that supporters of Taiwanese "separatists" would be "punished."
Jun's warning came shortly after China’s military held large drills around Taiwan.
In a recent briefing, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized U.S. military support for the island, claiming that it "sends a wrong message to 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces."
At a September defense conference hosted in Beijing, which was attended by a top Pentagon official for China, members of the People's Liberation Army weren't as irritated. In October, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also traveled to China, where he met with senior members of the government to help schedule a long-sought call between America's top military leader in the region and his Chinese counterpart.
The security assistance for Taiwan will be used to fund training, stockpiles, anti-armor weapons, air defense and multi-domain awareness, explained a U.S. official, who did not reveal specific details. The military aid will also be used for drones, which are crucial to the U.S. and Taiwan's "asymmetric" strategy to defend the island against China’s larger military force.
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