In a first, US approves Taiwan military aid transfer under scheme reserved for sovereign nations

In a deal that is relatively modest in size but potentially significant politically, the White House approved its first-ever transfer of military equipment to Taiwan under a programme normally reserved for helping sovereign independent nations.

The State Department let Congress know on Wednesday of the US$80 million deal as is customary, Associated Press reported. The structure of the sale, using a provision known as Foreign Military Financing (FMF), was expected to anger China, which considers the self-governed island part of its territory.

In its advisory, the administration of US President Joe Biden said the material would be used to “strengthen Taiwan’s self-defence capabilities through joint and combined defence capability and enhanced maritime domain awareness and maritime security capability”.

Previous military sales to Taiwan have been approved under other mechanisms that do not necessarily imply statehood. US officials contend the funding provision does not represent a change in policy.

FMF is “a source of financing and may be provided to a partner nation on either a grant (non-repayable) or direct-loan basis”, according to the Defence Security Cooperation Agency website.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But language in the FMF provision also covered aid to “international organisations” and friendly foreign governments, said Sean King, senior vice-president at Park Strategies, a consultancy.

“It does give you some wiggle room,” he said. “I see it as an efficiency move, following the US$345 million Pentagon transfer earlier this month, and a case of trying to treat Taiwan as more of a regular formal partner.”

China in July accused Washington of turning Taiwan into a “powder keg and ammunition depot” after the White House announced the US$345 million military aid package for Taipei.

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In recent months, the two economic giants have embarked on a series of high-level confidence-building visits ahead of a potential in-person discussion between Biden and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting in San Francisco in November.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has been in China this week, the fourth senior American official to visit in the past 10 weeks. During meetings, the two sides said that strong economic ties between the world’s two largest economies would play a key role in managing their differences and easing political tensions.

The only other time Washington has reportedly provided a non-nation-state with military aid under this form of funding was to the African Union, an organisation of sovereign states based in Ethiopia.

The State Department did not specify which military equipment or systems would be paid for under the programme, according to AP, based on a copy of the notification.

However, it gave a broad range of items that would be eligible, including armoured vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, drones, ballistic missile and cyber defences, air and coastal defence systems, and advanced communications equipment.

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Other equipment and services that might possibly be involved, it said, included protective gear, some small, medium and heavy weapons systems, ammunition, armoured and infantry fighting vehicles and training for Taiwanese military forces.

China views Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunited by force if necessary. Few countries, including the United States, recognise the self-governing island as an independent state.

House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said after Wednesday’s announcement that he was “glad the administration is further implementing our bipartisan Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act by finally providing FMF to Taiwan”.

“These weapons will not only help Taiwan and protect other democracies in the region, but also strengthen the US deterrence posture and ensure our national security from an increasingly aggressive CCP.”

Additional reporting by Associated Press

South China Morning Post