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White House to allocate funds for arms to Taiwan from budget earmarked for Ukraine aid - FT
The White House plans to ask the US Congress to fund weapons for Taiwan within the budget allocated for Ukraine, in an effort to speed up arms deliveries in the face of the growing threat from China.
The Financial Times reports this, citing two anonymous sources.
According to people familiar with the plan, the funds for arming Taiwan will be proposed as an additional request to speed up the delivery of weapons. If Congress passes the measure, it would be the first time Taiwan has received weapons through a U.S.-taxpayer-funded scheme known as Foreign Military Financing.
The White House is expected to make a request this month.
Some critics of the Taiwan policy have called on Washington to immediately deliver the weapons as China intensifies military activity around the island.
Taipei expects to receive $23 billion worth of weapons, including harpoon missiles and reconnaissance drones, which were previously approved by the US administration. The White House declined to comment or disclose details about the funding for Taiwan.
Zach Cooper, an expert on Asian security at the American Enterprise Institute, noted that including support for Taiwan, which has strong bipartisan support in the US Congress, in the budget for Ukraine could help the administration and Republicans attract members who might otherwise be opposed to supporting Ukraine.
"Asking for additional funding for Taiwan could put some Republicans in a difficult situation, as many of them are against funding for Ukraine but in favor of supporting Taiwan," he said.
It was also announced that the United States would provide $345 million in military aid to Taiwan, which should help Taiwan in a possible conflict with China in the future.
Politico previously reported that the Biden administration is preparing a new military aid package for the Ukrainian army.
The United States announced a preliminary military aid package for Ukraine on July 25. The $400 million package includes additional ammunition for the Patriot, NASAMS and HIMARS systems, as well as 32 Stryker armored personnel carriers.
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