U.S. plans to arm Taiwan are seriously increasing tensions across the Taiwan Strait, as could be expected. “US provision of military aid for China’s Taiwan region seriously violates the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US joint communiqués, especially the August 17 Communiqué. Such moves seriously undermine China’s sovereignty and security interests, and harm China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday. “China strongly deplores and firmly rejects this and has made serious démarches to the US side.”
And yet the White House insists on charging ahead with measures that will do the opposite of what it claims it’s trying to do. The Financial Times reported yesterday that the White House will ask Congress to fund arms for Taiwan as part of a supplemental budget request for Ukraine. (!) The Office of Management and Budget will include funding for Taiwan in the supplemental request as part of an effort to accelerate the provision of weapons, two people “familiar with the plan” told the FT. If passed by Congress, Taiwan would get arms through a US taxpayer-funded system known as “foreign military financing” for the first time. The White House is expected to submit the request this month.
Tying the request for Taiwan to the Ukraine supplemental is a tactic aimed at overcoming the growing opposition within the GOP to more aid for the Kiev regime.
