U.S. senator submits bill to bolster Taiwan’s military capabilities

The United States Senator Josh Hawley has proposed legislation that he said would “strengthen Taiwan’s defenses against a Chinese invasion” through training, equipment and other means of support provided by the U.S.

According to the proposed “Arm Taiwan Act of 2021,” submitted Tuesday, Taiwan is facing growing intimidation from Beijing and the threat of a Chinese invasion is “expected to reach especially dangerous levels by the latter half of the 2020s.”

Taiwan should speed up its deployment of cost-effective and resilient asymmetric defense capabilities to defend itself effectively, the bill said, and it stipulates that the U.S. defense secretary form a Taiwan Security Assistance Initiative to help Taiwan achieve this goal.

Under the bill, the U.S. would authorize US$3 billion annually for such an initiative from 2023 through 2027 to provide assistance to Taiwan’s government, such as equipment, training and other support.