Money, weapons and secret meetings: What the Pentagon is doing to arm Taiwan
By Noah Robertson
May 30, 2024, 10:02 AM
Last fall, during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, the Pentagon came with a message: Help us help Taiwan.
The year before, Congress had for the first time allowed the Defense Department to ship its own stocks to the island nation — up to $1 billion each year. But lawmakers didn’t offer funding to replace those stocks. To some in the Pentagon, it was like being asked to donate to a food bank without a grocery budget.
So as lawmakers quizzed witnesses about how to better support Taiwan, officials repeated their request for funding.
“There is no money,” Ely Ratner, head of Pentagon policy for the Indo-Pacific region, said during the 2023 hearing.
But there is now: In April, Congress passed a $95 billion defense bill, with about $4 billion in potential Taiwan aid. Nearly half of that chunk is for replacing donated stocks.
The challenge now is for the Pentagon to deliver.
https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2024/05/30/money-weapons-and-secret-meetings-what-the-pentagon-is-doing-to-arm-taiwan/
