Taiwan-US Relations

Analysis: US Senate Defense Bill Includes Support for Taiwan

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By Patrick Chen/Lery Hiciano

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Last week, the US Senate passed the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which included several types of support for Taiwan. TaiwanPlus spoke to Liu Fu-kuo from National Chengchi University in Taipei for more on what this means for US-Taiwan defense relations.

US Support for Taiwan: Analysis of 2026 Senate NDAA 

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REPORTER: Based on what is currently available, what are the primary differences between the Senate and the House version of this year's NDAA?

 

Liu Fu-kuo (PROFESSOR, INST. Of INT’L RELATIONS, NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY):

 

The Senate has a proposed to invite Taiwan to to be part of RIMPAC 2026. So this this may be the major difference between the House and also between the Senate.Back in September, the House, actually proposed to cut off the, military assistance to Ukraine as well as Taiwan. But this proposal altogether was rejected.

 

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REPORTER: Do you expect the Taiwan related parts of the NDAA to make it through negotiations without meaningful changes?

 

Liu Fu-kuo:  

There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years, but because this is a really in between, the White House and, Chinese government. So, this actually shows a very strong political gesture. Of course, for Taiwanese, we just hope that there would be a possibility to be invited to RIMPAC.

 

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REPORTER: If it were to happen, what would Taiwan's participation in the RIMPAC naval exercise mean?

 

Liu Fu-kuo:  

If Taiwan would be able to be invited to RIMPAC, it would actually lift the level of coordination among our Air Force and the Navy, not only in times of difficulty, not just in times of conflict. Taiwan will be able to quickly connect with our allies and friends in the region. So from my, professional perspective, this is all the more important, to strengthen, ROC Navy as well as our air force. But, of course, there are extra political, legal implications.

 

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REPORTER: What is something that you're monitoring in this year's NDAA that you think is important for the future of US Taiwan? Collaboration and engagement on these issues.

 

Liu Fu-kuo:  

From those proposals released by the media at least, defense industrial collaboration. Since Taiwan is ascending at the center of a global supply chain. And this is, all the more important not just for business, but also connecting with the defense industry, and collaborations. I thought, because of the discussion proposed by the Senate, that this would be very different from the previous years, and that would have such a long term effect to facilitate deepening relations between the US and Taiwan, especially not just technologically but also in the defense industry.