Taiwan PLUS Act

The "Taiwan PLUS Act" seeks to substantially improve defense cooperation between the United States and Taiwan, recognizing Taiwan's strategic importance as a major trading partner and a significant recipient of U.S. defense articles. The bill highlights Taiwan's status as a major non-NATO ally and its consistent efforts to enhance its self-defense capabilities through U.S. Foreign Military Sales. It also references previous legislative acts and recommendations emphasizing the need for robust support for Taiwan's security. A central provision of the Act is the Sense of Congress that enhanced defense cooperation with Taiwan is critical to U.S. national security. To achieve this, the bill proposes designating Taiwan as a member of the "NATO Plus" community of states, which currently includes key allies like Japan, Australia, and Israel. This designation would grant Taiwan similar rights, privileges, and responsibilities, particularly concerning the consideration of Foreign Military Sales. Specifically, for an initial five-year period, the bill mandates that Taiwan be treated as if it were a country listed in several key provisions of the Arms Export Control Act . This effectively streamlines and enhances Taiwan's access to U.S. defense articles and services, aligning its status with that of other close U.S. allies. The Secretary of State is also authorized to extend this enhanced cooperation for additional five-year periods, provided such extensions are deemed to be in the national security interests of the United States and Congress is duly notified.