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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday (Dec. 29) signed into law a US$1.65 trillion spending bill that includes US$2 billion in loans for Taiwan to purchase weapons from the U.S. to strengthen its defenses against China.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 signed into law Dec. 23 by U.S. President Biden and the omnibus spending bill passed the same day by the U.S. House of Representatives are sincerely appreciated by the government and people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The US Senate on Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, which would not only provide military aid to Taiwan, but implement the Taiwan Fellowship Act to send US federal employees to Taiwan to learn Mandarin and work in government agencies.

美國國會兩院於近日相繼通過《2023財年國防授權法案》，授權未來5年提供台灣最多100億美元無償軍援，並要求加速處理台灣軍購請求，法案接下來將送交白宮，只待美國總統拜登簽署使之成法。值得關注的是，法案包裹了美國政府將派遣官員駐台的計畫。計畫指出，駐派美官平均留台期限最長2年，第一年需學習中文，第二年則需在台灣的行政機關或立法院工作。

The U.S. Senate on Thursday (Dec. 15) folloWed, the U.S. House of Representatives in passing a bill allocating the coming year’s defense budget, which will include US$10 billion (NT$305.7 billion) in military aid for Taiwan to bolster its defenses against an invasion by China.

DEFENSIVE POSITION: Regional allies must be made aware that the US is committed to defending Taiwan while not provoking China, a US senator said

Taiwan NextGen Foundation CEO Chen Kuan-ting stressed the importance of the proposed Taiwan Fellowship Program, which was included in the Taiwan Policy Act introduced by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September.

On September 15, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee overwhelmingly approved the Taiwan Policy Act for further review by the U.S. Senate.

On October 29, 2021, the Congressional Study Group on Foreign Relations and National Security convened over Zoom to discuss legal and policy issues surrounding a possible military conflict between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over Taiwan.

ANNUAL DEFENSE ACT: The bill, which still requires approval in the Senate, would require the US president to invite Taiwan to the 2024 Rim of the Pacific exercises