Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker said Washington must uphold its security commitments to Taiwan after he met Tuesday with Alexander Yui, the democratically governed island’s representative to the United States. The dispute centers on whether U.S. authorities and assistance already approved for Taiwan will proceed, as China opposes arms sales to the island and claims it as its own territory.
The Law and the Commitments
The United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but it’s the island’s most important international backer and weapons supplier. Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, Washington must provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Wicker and other lawmakers cite the law as they press the administration over security assistance and arms sales.
“As members of Congress, we have a duty to make sure this law is adhered to and that decisions about the defense needs of Taiwan are based on our joint assessment of military necessity,” Wicker said in a statement. He said he discussed with Yui what he called the rise of Chinese aggression against the United States’ Indo-Pacific allies.
Congress, Wicker said, had authorized and appropriated additional resources for Taiwan. “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.
Assistance Held Up
Four other senators from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party called on his administration last week to release more than $15 billion in stalled national security assistance for Taiwan. Their appeal adds to Wicker’s demand that the administration follow congressional authorization and appropriation decisions.
Trump said in May, following a Beijing trip, that 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 article doesn’t report that the package has been released.
China has repeatedly called for Taiwan arms sales to end. Wicker urged Washington to uphold a precedent associated with then-President Ronald Reagan, who said the United States wouldn’t consult Beijing on arms sales to Taiwan. Wicker’s appeal links decisions on weapons provision directly to the Taiwan Relations Act and to Congress’s stated role in determining the island’s defense needs.
Taiwan’s Position
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future. Who determines Taiwan’s future is therefore part of the dispute, alongside the immediate question of U.S. arms and assistance.
Taiwan is in continuous talks with Washington about arms sales, Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said earlier Tuesday. Koo also said Taiwan had received reassurances since the Trump-Xi summit that U.S. policy on Taiwan hadn’t changed. Those reassurances came as lawmakers pressed the administration to release the stalled assistance and Wicker called for existing authorities to be used as Congress intended.