Biden’s $567M Taiwan Aid Sparks China’s Fury

Biden approves $567 million in military aid to Taiwan, and Beijing criticizes the US for “seriously violating” the one-China principle

WASHINGTON — On September 29, 2023, President Joe Biden authorized a historic $567 million military aid package to Taiwan to enhance its self-defense capabilities amid rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait. This decision, made under his presidential appropriations authority, faced strong condemnation from China, which accused the U.S. of violating the one-China principle and supporting pro-independence movements in Taiwan.

The aid includes the “Multi-Domain Situational Awareness” project, aimed at improving Taiwan’s military capabilities across air, land, and sea, and enhancing its early warning systems and operational coordination. Taiwanese military experts emphasized the significance of integrating various radar systems and communication pathways, underscoring Taiwan’s strategic importance as a non-NATO ally. The ongoing U.S. support reflects a commitment to bolster Taiwan’s defense amidst regional tensions, as Taiwan’s government insists that its future should be determined by its citizens.

Key Concepts

• President Joe Biden authorized $567 million in military aid to Taiwan to enhance its self-defense capabilities amid rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
• The aid package represents the largest military assistance program from the U.S. to Taiwan to date.
• China’s government condemned the U.S. military aid as a violation of the one-China principle and a threat to regional stability.
• The aid includes the “Multi-Domain Situational Awareness” project to improve Taiwan’s early warning systems and military capabilities.
• Taiwanese military experts emphasize the importance of integrating radar systems across air, land, and sea for enhanced situational awareness.
• The U.S. military assistance aims to bolster Taiwan’s intelligence transmission and operational coordination.
• Colonel Zhou Yuping highlighted the need for multiple communication pathways between military platforms to improve defense capabilities.
• The concept of multi-domain situational awareness encompasses both physical and virtual domains critical for Taiwan’s defense strategy.
• Taiwan’s government asserts that its future should be determined exclusively by its citizens, rejecting external claims of sovereignty.
• The ongoing U.S. support underscores Taiwan’s strategic significance as a non-NATO ally amidst escalating regional tensions.

The White House said that U.S. President Joe Biden exercised his presidential appropriations authority on Sunday (September 29) to approve $567 million in military aid to Taiwan, the latest step by the U.S. government to help Taiwan improve its self-defense capabilities as tensions in the Taiwan Strait continue to rise.

The Beijing authorities strongly disagreed with the US action, calling it a “serious violation” of the one-China principle.

The White House said in a statement that Biden, based on the authority granted by the U.S. Constitution and laws, authorized the allocation of up to $567 million in defense materials and services and military education and training from the U.S. Department of Defense to assist Taiwan. This is the largest such aid program in the United States to date.

The White House statement did not include any other details.

The United States and Taiwan do not have formal diplomatic relations, but the two sides have long maintained close economic, cultural, and security relations. The United States is also Taiwan’s main supplier of advanced weapons and Taiwan’s most important international supporter.

In April this year, President Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid bill, of which more than $60 billion was provided to Ukraine, and the rest of the military aid was provided to Israel, Taiwan, and other US allies in the Indo-Pacific.

Not surprisingly, the Chinese government strongly opposed the White House’s announcement of new military aid to Taiwan.

“The United States has once again provided weapons to the Taiwan region, which seriously violates the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiqués, especially the ‘August 17’ communiqué. It is actually supporting Lai Ching-te and the DPP authorities in promoting ‘Taiwan independence’ and provoking the one-China principle,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference on Monday.

“The biggest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the biggest damage to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait are the separatist activities of the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and the connivance and support of external forces led by the United States,” Lin Jian added.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency quoted retired Taiwanese military officers and military experts as saying that the military aid provided by the United States to Taiwan this time includes the “Multi-Domain Situational Awareness” project. This aid will help improve Taiwan’s early warning integration capabilities in the air, land, and sea fields while increasing common battlefield images, joint operations, and command and control of effective firepower use, strengthening the Taiwan military’s satellite intelligence transmission capabilities.

Colonel Zhou Yuping, former commander of the Taiwan Air Force Missile Early Warning Center, told the Central News Agency that “multi-domain situational awareness” will integrate radar systems in different areas, such as early warning aircraft, ground or sea radars, and establish multiple paths to enable them to establish connections between platforms through methods such as satellites, and even does not rule out establishing connections with NATO’s Link-22 data link system.

Su Ziyun, a scholar at the National Defense Security Research Institute, a think tank under the Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan, told the Central News Agency that “multi-domain situational awareness” refers to “three entities” (land, atmosphere, underwater, or space) and three virtual spaces (electromagnetic, network, and psychological), and perception is the connection and transmission of data links of sensors such as radar. The US military aid to Taiwan will strengthen the battlefield-related detection equipment of the Taiwan military, especially the Link-16 in the field of tactical communications, which is also known as the “National Military Security System.”

Su Ziyun pointed out that the United States’ repeated use of presidential appropriations to increase military aid to Taiwan is of great strategic and political significance, indicating that Taiwan has been regarded by the United States as a non-NATO ally.

The two sides of the Taiwan Strait share the same culture and ethnicity but have been separated and governed separately since 1949. The Beijing authorities insist that they have sovereignty over Taiwan and want to achieve reunification even if it means resorting to force. Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party government insists that Taiwan’s future can only be decided by its 23 million people.