The Biden administration has approved the first Foreign Military Financing (FMF) assistance for Taiwan, with plans to provide $80 million for purchasing U.S.-made defense equipment.
A State Department official told Defense Daily
the FMF funds could be used for capabilities ranging from air and coastal defense systems, drones, ballistic missile defense, cyber defense, ISR systems, command, control, and communications, and military training services.
“The United States has provided Foreign Military Sales (FMS) to Taiwan for decades. FMF simply enables eligible partners to purchase U.S. defense articles, services, and training through either FMS or, for a limited number of partners, through the foreign military financing of direct commercial contracts program,” the State Department official said in a statement. “This decision does not reflect any change in the U.S. one China policy. For over four decades, U.S. policy has been guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances. We do not support Taiwan independence.”
The State Department official said the newly approved FMF funds, which were first reported by the Associated Press, may also be used for “the refurbishment as well as export modification costs of items provided to Taiwan under Presidential Drawdown authority.”
The fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act incorporated provisions from the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act, to include authorizing up to $2 billion in FMF grants for Taiwan from FY ‘23 to ‘27.
A group of Republican lawmakers earlier this year urged the Biden administration to move ahead on providing Taiwan with the FMF grants to bolster its self-defense capabilities (Defense Daily, Feb. 17).
“I am glad the administration is further implementing our bipartisan Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act by finally providing FMF to Taiwan. These weapons will not only help Taiwan and protect other democracies in the region, but also strengthen the U.S. deterrence posture and ensure our national security from an increasingly aggressive [China],” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement on Thursday.
In late July, the Biden administration confirmed plans to provide Taiwan with $345 million in weapons pulled from existing Pentagon inventories using the Presidential Drawdown Authority.
While the Pentagon has declined to detail specific systems in the new $345 million weapons aid package for Taiwan, a senior department official has said it includes “asymmetric capabilities” for areas such as multi-domain awareness and air defense (Defense Daily, Aug. 1).