Last night the Biden administration announced an historic move by announcing the first weapons package to the island nation of Taiwan, to help them bolster their defenses against an increasingly potential war with China. The package is reportedly worth $345 million.
At the time of publishing, neither the White House or the Department of Defense (Pentagon) has published an official press release disclosing the edict, and the specifics of first real gift to Taiwan.
There has been a lot of mixed-messaging from the U.S. over their support of Taiwan. The WinePress first began to report on China’s ambitions to most-likely invade Taiwan in March of last year, one month after the Russia-Ukraine war began. China continued to perform military exercises and demonstrations close to the shores of Taiwan, and namely threatening the U.S. to mind its own business.
In August of last year, after multiple assertive warnings for her not to go, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made a controversial trip to the Taiwanese capital Taipei, offering assurance that the U.S. will come to their defense.
This past September a coalition of senators passed a bill that would provide $6.5 billion worth of military weaponry aid to Taiwan, plus an additional $2 billion line of credit. However, it seems that package has been dead since its passage did not go any further.
Near the beginning of this year, the U.S. announced on two separate occasions they would be sending troops to Taiwan to help train them in preparation with a war with China.
But the Taiwanese have been less hopeful that the U.S. will provide any real help, believing that the U.S. will just leave them out to dry, providing only pockets of weaponry to them similarly to what they are doing in Ukraine.
Last month Secretary of State Anthony Blinken then made a total 180 degree turnaround statement, explicitly saying the United States “does not support Taiwan independence,” even though the government has spent over a year of vain jangling saying that they would.
I raised U.S. concerns, shared by a growing number of countries, about the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait as well as in the East and South China Seas.
On Taiwan, I reiterated the longstanding U.S. One China policy. That policy has not changed. It’s guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques, the Six Assurances.
We do not support Taiwan independence, we remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences.
We remain committed to meeting our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act, including making sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself.Blinken said
The Global Times, a state-owned Chinese media publication, was quick to republish Blinken’s sentiments.
But clearly actions speak louder than words and the U.S. is clearly giving their support towards Taiwan. No doubt China will not take too kindly to this.
ABC News provides more details about this latest package and what it could mean:
The United States has announced a historic $345 million military aid package for Taiwan which for the first time will come from existing U.S. military stockpiles instead of purchases through the foreign military sales program, the White House announced Friday.
The announcement is a lesson learned from the U.S. military assistance to Ukraine where U.S.-made weapons are quickly getting to the battleground, but it will also likely rile China — which considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province.
The Pentagon has signaled for much of the year that it intended to prepare such a passage after Congress authorized $1 billion for military aid to be provided to Taiwan under what is known as a Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA).
The $345 million aid package was announced by the White House in a brief statement issued late Friday afternoon.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 621 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the authority under section 506(a)(3) of the FAA to direct the drawdown of up to $345 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan.
Said the statement.
The drawdown includes self-defense capabilities that Taiwan will be able to use to build to bolster deterrence now and in the future. Systems included in the $345 million package address critical defensive stockpiles, multi-domain awareness, anti-armor, and air defense capabilities.
Said Lt. Col. Martin Meiners.
The Associated Press reported Friday, that according to U.S. officials, the aid package includes portable air defense systems, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles.
Reuters was first to report on Thursday that the new aid package could be announced as early as Friday.
Meiners said the Pentagon would move “expeditiously” to deliver the aid package to Taiwan but would not provide a timeline.
The announcement will likely draw criticism from China which considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province and which has escalated tensions around the island in recent years. That includes demonstrations of its maritime and airborne capabilities as it edged closer to Taiwan territory beyond the Taiwan Strait.
While not a new authority for the U.S. in weapons transactions, the Presidential Drawdown Authority has drawn significant attention after more than $40 billion worth of existing weapons in U.S. stockpiles have been provided to Ukraine since the start of the war.
U.S. officials stressed what they noted was an important distinction in that the Taiwan PDA package is not being done under emergency authorities unlike the aid packages taking place for Ukraine. That difference likely is intended to play down any concerns that the aid package is being prompted by some sort of an emergency situation with regards to Taiwan.
The difference from existing arms sales agreements with Taiwan is that the weapons systems will arrive there in quick order as opposed to having to wait years for them to be built from scratch.
U.S. officials have said previously that a Presidential Drawdown Authority would be in line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the six assurances and the three communiques that guide U.S. policy towards Taiwan and reinforced that on Friday saying the announcement was not a change in policy.
The concept drew the attention of lawmakers who earlier this year authorized the transfer of up to $1 billion in PDA transfers, a move that drew Pentagon support.
“My team is working diligently to make sure that we have the right capabilities in that particular drawdown,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March.
The $1 billion authority is only valid through the end of this fiscal year on September 30.
Asked what would happen to the additional funding that remains in the congressional authority Lt. Col. Meiners said the Biden administration continues “to review Taiwan self-defense requirements, and we will continue to assess the best authority to meet these requirements going forward.”
Meiners said the aid package announcement had not been delayed by recent outreach efforts to China with the high-profile visits by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Instead he said it took time to preparing the first of its kind aid package to Taiwan required a large amount of coordination with multiple U.S. government agencies.
The administration conducted an intensive review to ensure the package met Taiwan’s critical defense needs.
Said Meiners.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
[7] And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. [8] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. Mark 13:7-8
No doubt this will be the first of many of packages to Taiwan…
Gerald Celente of the Trends Journal has two really good proverbial truths: “When all else fails they take you to war;” and, “The business of China is business: the business of America is war.” Now that Ukraine is basically defeated and done for, and the U.S. and NATO have run out of any real meaningful weapons to send to Ukraine (save only nukes and outright chemical bombs), the U.S. has to begun to switch gears now, so it appears at least.
This is something I actually predicted would happen when I first reported on China’s ambitions to invade Taiwan over a year and a half ago:
I am wondering if once Russia-Ukraine calms down and comes to an end in the media, then the handlers switch off to China-Taiwan, and repeat a similar process of extending that for as long as they can; get the narcissistic sheeple to waive Taiwanese flags, Trump will convince his [ilk] that [this] conflict would not have happened under his watch, NATO launches all kinds of sanctions on China and REALLY create famine.
I wrote on March 24th, 2022
Moreover, I had said on several occasions that the U.S. would do what they are doing in Ukraine: just keep sending tons of meaningless packages and levy restrictions on China, which only hurt us drastically in short order.
America is running very low on heavy artillery and munitions, as it has sent so much garbage to Ukraine, and has been at low production rates since Obama took office, adding onto the rest of the military wows the U.S. has.
When China has had enough of the shenanigans, they would just levy their own restrictions on the U.S., which will be detrimental and immediately felt overnight. I mean, just imagine for a moment of China mandates to turn off the factories just for a couple of days, causing a massive rift in supplies to the U.S… the damage that would cause would be debilitating.
SEE: Rumors Of War: Top Air Force General Says United States Will Fight China By 2025
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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Mat_15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Sounds like the US has this as the moto for everything.
The money that is announced to go to Taiwan, is a small fraction of whatever money that is currently going to Ukraine.