US National Defense Authorization Act Makes Taiwan Happy, China Livid

The United States National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2018, approved by President Trump earlier this week, has made China livid for setting the US military on a path of  "long-term strategic competition with China," while at the same has received praise from Taiwan for US military support in its confrontation with Beijing.

"We resolutely oppose any country having any forms of formal and military exchanges with Taiwan, this stance has been consistent and clear," he said. "We will not allow anyone to split Taiwan from China in any way or at any time," A spokesperson for the Chinese ministry of defense, Senior Colonel Wu Qian was quoted as saying by Chinamil Tuesday.

According to Wu, the Act also goes against the one-China policy, damages the development of Sino-US military-to-military relationship and undermines mutual trust and cooperation among the two nations. The Act is full of cold-war mentality, he added.

Taiwan on the other hand thanked the US for its support. Taiwan would “continue to act in conjunction with the US government to stabilize and deepen the security partnership between Taiwan and the US in a mutually beneficial way,” the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quoted as saying by Taipei Times Wednesday.

The NDAA for fiscal year 2019 includes two provisions pertaining to Taiwan. Taiwan’s national defense spending would continue to increase and the use of special budgets would be approved in the case of important purchases, President Tsai Ing-wen said.

Trump signed the defense policy bill into law, authorizing US$716 billion in total military spending for the coming fiscal year.