US Senate panel approves $4.5B weapons deal for Taiwan

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a bill on September 14 to boost ties with Taiwan and give it more military hardware to deter a Chinese invasion, though the final legislation will need to address White House objections if it has any chance of becoming law, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

The Taiwan Policy Act would give Taipei $4.5 billion for defense over four years, call for the US to “engage with” its democratically elected government as the “legitimate representative of the people of Taiwan” and affirm the president’s power to levy sanctions on Chinese officials and financial institutions involved in actions against the island.

The measure was approved 17 to 5, sending it to the full Senate for consideration and an uncertain fate.

Although the White House says it supports some parts of the bill, Biden administration officials have said the bill risks upending the US’s carefully calibrated “one China” policy, under which the US has for more than 40 years built ties with Beijing by avoiding formally stating its position on Taiwan’s sovereignty. They also fear it takes policymaking out of the president’s hands and gives it to Congress.

The bill’s proponents argue that President Xi Jinping is moving China in a more authoritarian, militaristic direction, and the US must bolster Taiwan’s defenses in response.