Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

US bill authorizes arms loans, not grants

Taipei Times

A US government funding bill for next year that was unveiled on Tuesday authorized US$2 billion in loans to Taiwan to buy weapons, but did not include grants for similar purposes that had been approved in a separate defense bill.

The Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, covering funding for the US government for fiscal 2023, allowed up to US$2 billion in direct loans to Taiwan under the Foreign Military Financing Program.

Learning from US’ Ukraine policy

Joseph Bosco

If Washington’s support for Ukraine against Russia’s aggression is a model for the US’ role after a Chinese attack on Taiwan, Taiwanese are in for a rough ride.

In 2008, at the urging of then-US president George W. Bush, NATO issued a communique from its 26 members, stating: “We agreed that [Georgia and Ukraine] will become members of NATO.”

Bolstering Taiwan, UK exchanges

Yao Chung-yuan 姚中原

Although Taiwan and the UK have no military cooperation, London has been closely monitoring the situation in the Taiwan Strait in the face of the aggressive expansion of Chinese Communist Party forces in the Indo-Pacific region. There is strategic space for military exchanges between Taiwan and the UK, and for the two nations to collaborate on maintaining security and stability in the region.

On Nov. 29, a British parliamentary delegation visited Taiwan. On Dec. 5, British Defence Select Committee Chairman Tobias Ellwood said in a Reuters report that the UK should have greater military and security interaction with Taiwan, and it should be bolder in supporting Taiwan internationally.

Taiwan to boost east coast defenses

Taipei Times

The military is to station mobile missile defense systems along Taiwan’s east coast after Chinese military vessels were spotted in the area, a source said yesterday.

On Friday, six Chinese warships, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning, entered the Pacific Ocean via the Miyako Strait, posing a threat to Taiwan’s east coast.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense on Friday confirmed the passage of the ships, saying that its Maritime Self-Defense Force monitored the vessels, adding that they did not enter Japan’s territorial waters.

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