Senate Bill Eyes Faster Arms Transfers to Taiwan
Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Chris Coons, D-Del., introduced a bill May 13 aimed at speeding up arms shipments to Taiwan to help the country defend itself against China.
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The Providing Our Regional Companions Upgraded Protection in Nefarious Environments (Porcupine) Act would give Taiwan the shorter formal congressional notification timelines and higher weapons value notification thresholds enjoyed by NATO members, plus Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. It would also require the State Department to create an expedited decision-making process to transfer U.S.-made defense equipment from NATO Plus countries to Taiwan.
Ricketts and Coons said their legislation is needed because the process for getting arms to Taiwan takes too long. The bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which Ricketts and Coons are members.
The introduction came two days before the House Select Committee on China is scheduled to hold a May 15 hearing on how the U.S. and its allies can help prevent a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Meanwhile, a task force set up by the House Foreign Affairs Committee is looking at ways to improve the U.S. foreign arms sales process overall (see 2504300020).