US President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law a US government funding bill for next year that includes provisions to authorize US$2 billion in loans to Taiwan to buy weapons from the US.
Biden, who is on vacation, finalized the US$1.65 trillion Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act covering funding for fiscal 2023.
In a news release, the White House said that the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023” makes consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2023, to provide emergency assistance for the situation in Ukraine and for other purposes.
Photo: AFP
The bill, which cleared the US Congress on Dec. 23, provides a record US$858 billion in defense funding — a 10 percent increase over the funding for fiscal 2022 — and US$772 billion in non-defense funding.
In its provisions regarding Taiwan, the act allows up to US$2 billion in direct loans to Taiwan for military purposes under the “Foreign Military Financing Program.”
Taiwan would be required to pay off such loans within 12 years.
However, the bill does not include provisions to provide US$10 billion of grants — US$2 billion over the next five years — for Taiwan to buy US-made weapons, as authorized in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023.
The NDAA was signed into law by Biden on Friday last week, but for its funding provisions to be carried out, they must still be approved in the general appropriations act.
The appropriations bill also authorizes funding from the American Institute of Taiwan’s (AIT) budget to support a fellowship program that offers the opportunity for US federal government employees to live and work in Taiwan for two years.
The act states that after consulting with the AIT director, the US secretary of state is required to present an executive plan for the fellowship program to the Committee on Appropriations.
The funds made available by the act are not allowed to “be used to create, procure or display any map that inaccurately depicts the territory and social and economic system of Taiwan and the islands or island groups administered by Taiwan authorities.”
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS