US Senate Passes Massive Defence Budget
AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopters at US Army base Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, South Korea
The US Congress on Wednesday passed a national defense bill which created a new record of $770 billion budget, with $7.1 billion allocated toward beefing up the US position in Indo Pacific, as well as provisions concerning the Republic of Taiwan including inviting it to a multilateral naval exercise.
Judging from items in the act, it is very clear US is going to stand by its assurance given to the freedom loving people of Republic of Taiwan and will help in defending Democracy at all cost. AUKUS will come to aid of Taiwan if it’s freedom and independence is at stake.
The US Senate on Wednesday passed the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) after the House nodded to it on December 7. The bill will wait for a signature from President Joe Biden before becoming law, media reported.
US senate passes record military budget for 2022
The act is $25 billion more than Biden had requested. The bill includes $7.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and a statement of congressional support for the defense of Taiwan, as well as a ban on the US Department of Defense procuring products “produced with forced labor” from Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
US media were brief on the Taiwan parts in the act but Taiwan – based media outlet the Taiwan News reported on Thursday the bill states that the naval force of the Republic of Taiwan should be invited to participate in the US – led Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC) conducted in 2022.
Biden will invite the Republic of Taiwan to RIMPAC, considering he already offered platform for the DPP authority at the so-called “summit for democracy,” which is of the same purpose – to lift Taiwan’s international presence.
The Communist Chinese are furious and have started talking of “prepare for the worst and getting ready, in strategy and military tactics, for any scenario amid the worsening cross-Straits situations and China-US rivalry”.
According to open data, the US has the highest military budget in the world, four times that of China’s. The National Defense Authorization Act also included $300 million to support Ukraine, over which the US and NATO are in fierce dispute with Russia.
China has reacted by saying that the shockingly high and continuously rising military budget is the foundation for the US to maintain its hegemonic status worldwide. To justify the high spending, the US has to create conflicts, crises and hype “external threats,” which only demonstrates that the US is the “destroyer of world peace.”
As for the bans on Pentagon procurement of products made by so-called forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, Li said it is nothing new amid the trend of adding the flavor of Xinjiang to any relevant or irrelevant bills and documents.
