Biden wants to supply Taiwan with weapons from additional funds for Ukraine

US President Joe Biden plans to ask Congress to finance the purchase of weapons for Taiwan as part of a request for additional budgetary funds for Ukraine. Such a scheme, which arose due to growing fears about the “Chinese threat” in Washington, was reported by the Financial Times on August 2, citing two sources. Thus, for the first time, Taiwan can obtain weapons through a system funded by US taxpayers, known as the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.

On August 2, the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed “categorical dissatisfaction and strong protest” over the July package of aid to Taiwan from the Biden administration. China demands that the United States stop providing military assistance to Taiwan, since, from the point of view of Beijing, such actions cause serious damage to Sino-American relations and violate the “one China” principle. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also called for “stop indulging and supporting separatist forces” in Taiwan. The day before, on August 1, official representative of the Chinese Ministry of Defense Tan Kefei noted that the Taiwan issue affects China’s “core interests” and is a “red line” in relations between Beijing and Washington.

According to the FT, the MBO’s inclusion of funding for Taiwan in an additional funding request for Ukraine could happen as early as August. That could speed up aid deliveries to the island, which, according to the US-Taiwan Business Council, is still awaiting $23 billion worth of weapons, including long-range Tomahawk missiles and drones. Some of these contracts were concluded more than five years ago, the newspaper recalls.

On July 28, Joe Biden announced the release of up to $345 million from the Pentagon’s defense stockpile for military products and services of the US Department of Defense, as well as for education and training in the military field to assist Taiwan. According to the ABC TV channel, this package will include man-portable air defense systems, firearms, missiles, reconnaissance and surveillance equipment. According to Reuters, the package may also include the delivery of four MQ-9A reconnaissance drones.

The United States recognizes China as the only Chinese state, but it also has formal obligations to Taiwan. We are talking about the “Taiwan Relations Act” of 1979, according to which the Americans are required to provide defensive means and services in the event of external threats to the island’s security. At the same time, their nature and volumes are determined by the President and the US Congress.

At the same time, on July 28, the US Senate approved the draft defense budget for the next fiscal year, starting October 1, 2023, with a record spending of $886 billion. “$9.1 billion for various measures aimed at increasing competitiveness with China” and $300 million for Ukraine – as part of a special “Security Assistance Initiative”. The Senate has practically no disagreements with the House of Representatives on supporting Kyiv, but there are a number of contradictions on other ideological points that a special commission should resolve. Thus, the Republicans in the House of Representatives managed to fix in her project a refusal to compensate for the costs of transgender transition of the military and a refusal to pay the expenses of a serviceman or a member of a military family who is in custody for a trip to another state so that she could have an abortion there (in some states procedure is prohibited).

The generously approved limit on military aid to Ukraine is a “convenient nest egg” through which third-party spending has often been spent for a year and a half, says Alexander Ermakov, a military expert at the Russian International Affairs Council. In particular, the Pentagon also rearms itself through such manipulations – Ukraine is mainly supplied with existing weapons from warehouses, outdated in places (this applies, for example, to armored vehicles), and new ones are purchased with the allocated money to help it. Now, however, the White House has decided to make deliveries to Taiwan through Ukraine, using “external” money in relation to the usual items of assistance to the allies – and this allows it to avoid the restrictions that would arise if another request were made.

Most likely, Biden’s desire to redistribute funds allocated to Ukraine in favor of Taiwan is connected precisely with domestic political processes, agrees Yana Leksyutina, professor at St Petersburg University. Alarmism may be growing in the US administration about the possibility of China using military force against Taiwan, and therefore they are looking for various ways to speed up deliveries.