Members of U.S. Congress have recently introduced the draft “Taiwan Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2023,” which authorizes Washington to lend or lease defense equipment to Taiwan when needed. It’s in the model of America’s military aid to Ukraine. Premier Chen Chien-jen on Sunday thanked the U.S. for standing with Taiwan and maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Chen said that Taiwan needs to be able to fight in order to prevent war. Let’s hear what he had to say.

Premier Chen Chien-jen remarked that the consensus of democratic nations all over the world is that we hope that the Taiwan Strait and the region can maintain peace and stability. It is only by preparing for war that we can avoid a war. It is only by being able to wage a war that we can prevent a war. So we’re very happy to see this and grateful that we can see that the U.S. has made these related decisions.

Su Tzu-yun of  Institute for National Defense and Security Research elaborated that the “lend-lease” act actually may mean that warships that have been decommissioned or mothballed in the United States can be given to Taiwan in a lend or lease format, so we can carry out our own self-defense. The aim is to raise the quality and quantity of Taiwan’s weaponry used in self-defense. In fact, U.S. President Joe Biden has said that the U.S. will help defend Taiwan. At the same time it’s been reported that the U.S. may install a stockpile of munitions in Taiwan. This would allow the U.S. military in a time of crisis to arrive in Taiwan without bringing lots of weaponry. From weaponry to munitions as well as up to US$2 billion in annual grants under the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2023, it is clear that the U.S. is standing by Taiwan to resist China’s ambitions to stage an invasion.