Taiwan's military is set to benefit from weapons and training provided for by the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific that U.S. President Joe Biden approved Wednesday.
Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan is its territory and vows to someday bring it under its control. In recent years, China has significantly dialed up military activities in nearby airspace and waters as part of its pressure campaign, prompting Taipei to boost defense spending and increase its mandatory military service period to one year.
Since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, the U.S. remains Taipei's largest arms supplier.
Taiwan's and other Indo-Pacific governments will receive $8 billion in security assistance to counter China, of which $2 billion will be allocated for Taiwan and other U.S. partners in the region under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.
An additional $1.9 billion will replenish stocks of defensive equipment and services, such as training, that the Pentagon supplies to these partners.
The U.S. is set to play an expanded role in preparing Taiwanese troops for battle following the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024 in December. The legislation requires that "training, advising, and institutional capacity-building program" be established for Taiwan's military, in collaboration with its government.
Though it was long considered an open secret that U.S. military personnel were training Taiwanese troops, it wasn't until 2021 that President Tsai Ing-wen confirmed it was taking place on an occasional basis.
Prior to that statement, the only active-duty American service members officially acknowledged on the island were those attached to the de facto U.S. Embassy in Taipei since 2005, with the addition of Marine security guard contingent in 2019.
As of December, there were a total of 41 military personnel, according to Pentagon data: six from the Army, three from the Navy, 27 from the Marine Corps and five from the Air Force.
Newsweek reached out to Taiwan's foreign ministry with a written request for comment.
In February, local media reported that U.S. troops, including Army Special Forces—also known as Green Berets—were being stationed in Taiwan on a long-term basis. However, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Admiral John Aquilino dismissed the reports, calling them "inherently inaccurate."
China expressed "strong dissatisfaction" over the new military assistance for Taiwan, with Chinese Embassy in the U.S. spokesman Liu Pengyu telling Newsweek that "the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese."
After the bill passed, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said Wednesday that the Taiwanese authorities have allowed themselves to become pawns of "external forces" seeking to contain China.
Zhu said she hoped the majority of "Taiwan compatriots" would understand the danger of their elected government colluding with these outsiders to "seek independence by force." She called on them to work with Beijing toward peaceful, more integrated cross-strait relations.
China has said it would declare war if Taiwan were to make an official declaration of independence. Tsai has ruled out the need for this, saying Taiwan is already an independent country.
Polling conducted in November showed upwards of 80 percent of Taiwanese preferred either maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait or declaring de jure independence at some point.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
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