WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill earlier this week to help strengthen security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, including continuing arms sales to Taiwan and expanding military exchanges. In accordance with the TRA, the U.S. should provide a timely review of requests for defense articles and defense services that may be necessary for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability, said the section on strengthening Taiwan defense in the proposed bill. To maintain a sufficient self-defense capability, Taiwan should also significantly increase its defense budget, it said. Meanwhile, the bill said that the U.S. should support expanded military exchanges with Taiwan, "including exchanges between services, to empower senior military officers to identify and develop asymmetric and innovative capabilities that strengthen Taiwan's ability to deter aggression." The proposed bill, aimed at strengthening security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, also touched upon the issue of North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and the issue of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

Source: The China Post May 27, 2017 09:00 UTC