More than $15 billion in national security assistance for Taiwan remains stalled. On Tuesday, Republican US Senator Roger Wicker urged Washington to honor its security commitments after meeting Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s representative to the US. President Donald Trump has also kept a separate arms package worth about $14 billion in abeyance.
Aid and arms sales
Four other senators from Trump’s Republican Party called last week for the administration to release the stalled assistance. The United States remains Taiwan’s most important international backer and weapons supplier, though Washington and the island have no formal diplomatic ties.
The commitment rests on the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. Under that law, Washington must provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly called for arms sales to the island to end.
Congress has authorized and appropriated resources for Taiwan, Wicker said. “In response — and in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act — Congress has authorized and appropriated a surge in resources to provide Taiwan with enhanced training, security assistance, and arms sales. These authorities must be used for the purposes that Congress intended,” he said.
The report identifies billions in assistance and arms packages, but names no weapons companies or company profit figures. It describes a policy that directs public resources toward training, security assistance and arms sales. The administration’s decision to hold a package in abeyance leaves its release unresolved.
Congress and the administration
Wicker said Congress has a duty to ensure the law is followed and that officials base decisions about Taiwan’s defense needs on a joint assessment of military necessity. He also said he discussed what he called the rise of Chinese aggression against the United States’ Indo-Pacific allies with Yui.
Who decides how the authorized resources get used? That question lies at the center of the dispute. Wicker said the authorities “must be used for the purposes that Congress intended.” His statement came as Trump’s administration continued to withhold more than $15 billion in assistance sought by the four Republican senators.
In May, after a trip to Beijing, Trump said he was keeping a new package worth about $14 billion in abeyance. After meeting President Xi Jinping in Washington last week, Trump said only that the Chinese leader understood his position on Taiwan. The report doesn’t say Trump released the package after the meeting.
Wicker urged Washington to follow a precedent set by then-President Ronald Reagan: the United States wouldn’t consult Beijing on arms sales to Taiwan. Under that precedent, Washington makes the arms-sales decision, even as Beijing demands that the sales stop.
Taiwan’s position
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future. Taiwan continues to discuss arms sales with Washington, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said earlier Tuesday.
Koo also said Taiwan had received reassurances since the Trump-Xi summit that US policy toward Taiwan hadn’t changed. The assistance remains stalled, and Trump’s separate arms package remains in abeyance.
The article names no workers, unions or labor organizations involved in the dispute. Its account centers on decisions by Congress and the administration, the law governing US support, and the arms and security resources under discussion.