The US Senate on Tuesday approved US$95 billion in aid to Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, with the package of bills containing the funding expected to be signed into law after press time last night.
The Senate passed the bills in a 79-18 vote after the US House of Representatives on Saturday approved the package, which US President Joe Biden said he would sign.
“Tonight, a bipartisan majority in the Senate joined the House to answer history’s call at this critical inflection point,” Biden said.
Photo: AP
The legislation would send US$26 billion in wartime assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza, and US$8 billion to counter Chinese threats to Taiwan and in the Indo-Pacific.
US officials said that about US$1 billion of the aid package could be on its way shortly, with the bulk following in coming weeks.
In Taipei yesterday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) thanked the US for its support, including the Senate’s action, in a meeting with a US delegation.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan will continue to work with the US and other countries to bolster the “pan-democratic alliance,” and create global prosperity and stability, Tsai told the delegation at the Presidential Office.
Tsai thanked the delegation, which comprises US representatives Lisa McClain, Dan Kildee and Mark Alford, for their efforts to advance legislation that would support Taiwan’s participation on the international stage.
She also thanked the US House of Representatives for its work to advance the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which would allocate funding for continued Taiwan-US collaboration.
Photo: AFP
Tsai also thanked the delegation members for their roles in enhancing Taiwan-US collaboration.
With this year marking 45 years since the US’ Taiwan Relations Act became law, Taiwan and the US should boost their collaborations to contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, and to limit authoritarian expansion, she said.
Tsai reiterated the nation’s gratitude for Washington’s military sales to Taiwan based on the “six assurances” and the Taiwan Relations Act.
In addition to completing the first batch of agreements under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, hopefully the US-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act would be finalized soon, Tsai said, adding that the two sides are important trade partners.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
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