II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3131 

To accelerate deployment by Taiwan of the asymmetric defense capabilities 

required to deter or, if necessary, defeat an invasion of Taiwan by 

the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2021 

Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To accelerate deployment by Taiwan of the asymmetric defense capabilities required to deter or, if necessary, defeat an invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Republic 

of China, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arm Taiwan Act of 

5 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 


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1 (1) The Department of Defense has warned 

2 that the Government of the People’s Republic of 

3 China may conclude that it can successfully invade 

4 and seize control of Taiwan in the latter half of the 

5 2020s. 

6 (2) In October 2021, the Minister of National 

7 Defense of Taiwan, Chiu Kuo-cheng, echoed these 

8 warnings when he stated that the People’s Republic 

9 of China— 

10 (A) ‘‘is capable now’’ of invading Taiwan; 

11 and 

12 (B) will have ‘‘lowered the costs and 

13 losses’’ associated with invading Taiwan ‘‘to a 

14 minimum’’ after 2025. 

15 (3) If the People’s Republic of China were to 

16 invade and seize control of Taiwan, it would deal a 

17 severe blow to United States interests by— 

18 (A) destroying one of the world’s leading 

19 democracies; 

20 (B) casting doubt on the ability and re21 solve of the United States to uphold its security 

22 commitments; 

23 (C) incentivizing other countries in the 

24 Indo-Pacific region to bandwagon with the Peo25 ple’s Republic of China; and 


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1 (D) facilitating the formation of a regional 

2 order dominated by the People’s Republic of 

3 China in which the Government of the People’s 

4 Republic of China may— 

5 (i) regulate or otherwise limit the abil6 ity of individuals in the United States to 

7 trade in the Indo-Pacific region, which 

8 would have dire effects on the livelihoods 

9 and freedoms of such individuals; and 

10 (ii) use the Indo-Pacific region as a 

11 secure base from which to project military 

12 power into other regions, including the 

13 Western Hemisphere. 

14 (4) Taiwan’s proximity to the People’s Republic 

15 of China, coupled with investments by the People’s 

16 Republic of China in capabilities designed to delay 

17 intervention by the United States Armed Forces in 

18 support of Taiwan, means that Taiwan may be 

19 forced to delay, degrade, and deny an invasion by 

20 the People’s Republic of China with limited support 

21 from the United States Armed Forces for the initial 

22 days, weeks, or months of such an invasion. 

23 (5) If Taiwan is unable to delay, degrade, and 

24 deny an invasion by the People’s Republic of China 

25 with limited support from the United States Armed 


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1 Forces, especially in the initial period of war, then 

2 the People’s Republic of China may conclude that it 

3 is, or may actually be, capable of— 

4 (A) invading and seizing control of Taiwan 

5 before the United States or any other partner 

6 country of Taiwan is able to respond effectively, 

7 thereby achieving a fait accompli; and 

8 (B) potentially rendering any attempt by 

9 the United States or any other partner country 

10 of Taiwan to reverse territorial gains by the 

11 People’s Republic of China prohibitively dif12 ficult, costly, or both. 

13 (6) To defend itself effectively, especially in the 

14 initial period of war, it is imperative that Taiwan ac15 celerate deployment of cost-effective and resilient 

16 asymmetric defense capabilities, including mobile 

17 coastal and air defenses, naval mines, missile boats, 

18 man-portable anti-armor weapons, civil defense 

19 forces, and their enablers. 

20 (7) The deployment of such asymmetric defense 

21 capabilities by Taiwan would not only improve the 

22 ability of Taiwan to defend itself, but also reduce 

23 operational risk to members of the United States 

24 Armed Forces under a Taiwan contingency. 


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1 (8) The President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen, 

2 has— 

3 (A) vowed to bolster the national defense 

4 of Taiwan and demonstrate Taiwan’s deter5 mination to defend itself so as to ensure that 

6 Taiwan will not be forced to take the path that 

7 the People’s Republic of China has laid out for 

8 Taiwan; and 

9 (B) advocated the deployment of asym10 metric defense capabilities. 

11 (9) The Government of Taiwan has begun tak12 ing steps to improve Taiwan’s defenses, including by 

13 increasing Taiwan’s defense budget and through 

14 Taiwan’s new proposed special defense budget, but 

15 far more is needed, and quickly, to ensure that Tai16 wan is able to maintain a sufficient self-defense ca17 pability. 

18 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con19 gress that— 

20 (1) the threat of an invasion of Taiwan by the 

21 People’s Republic of China is increasing rapidly and 

22 expected to reach especially dangerous levels by the 

23 latter half of the 2020s; 

24 (2) the United States has a strong interest in 

25 preventing the People’s Republic of China from inVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Nov 03, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3131.IS S3131

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1 vading and seizing control of Taiwan, especially by 

2 ensuring that Taiwan is able to maintain a sufficient 

3 self-defense capability; 

4 (3) the United States should establish a secu5 rity assistance initiative so as to accelerate, to the 

6 greatest extent possible, Taiwan’s deployment of 

7 cost-effective and resilient asymmetric defense capa8 bilities; 

9 (4) the United States should provide such as10 sistance on the condition that Taiwan— 

11 (A) matches investments by the United 

12 States in its asymmetric defense capabilities; 

13 (B) increases its defense spending to a 

14 level commensurate with the threat it faces; 

15 (C) prioritizes acquiring cost-effective and 

16 resilient asymmetric defense capabilities as rap17 idly as possible, including from foreign sup18 pliers, if necessary; and 

19 (D) demonstrates progress on defense re20 forms required to maximize the effectiveness of 

21 its asymmetric defenses, with special regard to 

22 Taiwan’s reserve forces; and 

23 (5) in the course of executing such a security 

24 assistance initiative, the United States should— 


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1 (A) seek to co-produce or co-develop cost2 effective and resilient asymmetric defense capa3 bilities with suppliers in Taiwan, including by 

4 providing incentives to that effect, so long as 

5 those suppliers can produce such capabilities at 

6 a reasonable cost, in the quantities required, as 

7 rapidly, and to the same quality and technical 

8 standards as suppliers in the United States or 

9 other countries; and 

10 (B) encourage other countries, particularly 

11 United States allies and partners, to sell, lease, 

12 or otherwise provide appropriate asymmetric 

13 defense capabilities to Taiwan so as to facilitate 

14 Taiwan’s rapid deployment of the asymmetric 

15 defense capabilities required to deter or, if nec16 essary, defeat an invasion by the People’s Re17 public of China. 

18 SEC. 3. TAIWAN SECURITY ASSISTANCE INITIATIVE. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall es20 tablish an initiative, to be known as the ‘‘Taiwan Security 

21 Assistance Initiative’’ (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Ini22 tiative’’), to accelerate Taiwan’s deployment of asym23 metric defense capabilities required to deter or, if nec24 essary, defeat an invasion by the People’s Republic of 

25 China. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000,000 for the De3 partment of Defense for each of fiscal years 2023 through 

4 2027 to provide assistance to the Government of Taiwan 

5 under this section. 

6 (c) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in 

8 coordination with the Secretary of State, shall use 

9 the funds authorized to be appropriated under sub10 section (b) to provide assistance to the Government 

11 of Taiwan for the purpose described in subsection 

12 (d). 

13 (d) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Initiative is to 

14 provide assistance, including equipment, training, and 

15 other support, to the Government of Taiwan so as to accel16 erate Taiwan’s deployment of asymmetric defense capa17 bilities required to achieve, with limited support from the 

18 United States Armed Forces for the initial days, weeks, 

19 or months after the initiation of an invasion by the Peo20 ple’s Republic of China of Taiwan, the following objectives: 

21 (1) To delay, degrade, and deny attempts by 

22 People’s Liberation Army forces to enter or transit 

23 the Taiwan Strait and adjoining seas. 

24 (2) To delay, degrade, and deny attempts by 

25 People’s Liberation Army forces to secure a 


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1 lodgment on Taiwan and expand or otherwise use 

2 that lodgment to seize control of a population center 

3 or other key territory in Taiwan. 

4 (3) To prevent the People’s Republic of China 

5 from decapitating, seizing control of, or otherwise 

6 neutralizing or rendering ineffective the Government 

7 of Taiwan. 

8 (e) ASYMMETRIC DEFENSE CAPABILITIES.—In this 

9 section, the term ‘‘asymmetric defense capabilities’’ in10 cludes, in such quantities as the Secretary of Defense de11 termines to be necessary to achieve the purpose specified 

12 in subsection (d), the following: 

13 (1) Mobile, ground-based coastal defense cruise 

14 missiles and launchers. 

15 (2) Mobile, ground-based short-range and me16 dium-range air defense systems. 

17 (3) Smart, self-propelled naval mines and coast18 al minelaying platforms. 

19 (4) Missile boats and fast-attack craft equipped 

20 with anti-ship and anti-landing craft missiles. 

21 (5) Unmanned aerial and other mobile, resilient 

22 surveillance systems to support coastal and air de23 fense operations. 

24 (6) Equipment to support target location, 

25 tracking, identification, and targeting, especially at 


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1 the local level, in communications degraded or de2 nied environments. 

3 (7) Man-portable anti-armor weapons, mortars, 

4 and small arms for ground combat operations. 

5 (8) Equipment and technical assistance for the 

6 purpose of developing civil defense forces, composed 

7 of civilian volunteers and militia. 

8 (9) Training and equipment, including appro9 priate war reserves, required for Taiwan forces to 

10 independently maintain, sustain, and employ capa11 bilities described in paragraphs (1) through (8). 

12 (10) Concept development for coastal defense, 

13 air defense, decentralized command and control, civil 

14 defense, logistics, planning, and other critical mili15 tary functions, with an emphasis on operations in a 

16 communications degraded or denied environment. 

17 (11) Any other capability the Secretary of De18 fense considers appropriate for the purpose de19 scribed in subsection (d). 

20 (f) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

21 (1) PLAN.—Not later than December 1, 2022, 

22 and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense, in 

23 coordination with the Secretary of State, shall sub24 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 

25 plan for using funds authorized to be appropriated 


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1 under subsection (b) for the purpose specified in 

2 subsection (d). 

3 (2) INITIAL CERTIFICATION.—Amounts author4 ized to be appropriated under subsection (b) for fis5 cal year 2023 may not be obligated or expended 

6 until the date on which the Secretary of Defense, in 

7 coordination with the Secretary of State, certifies 

8 that the Government of Taiwan has committed— 

9 (A) to spending an equivalent amount on 

10 asymmetric defense capabilities in fiscal year 

11 2023; 

12 (B) to spending not less than three percent 

13 of Taiwan’s national gross domestic product on 

14 defense on an annual basis by the end of fiscal 

15 year 2027, including expenditures under the 

16 normal defense budget and any supplemental or 

17 special defense budgets of Taiwan; 

18 (C) to acquiring asymmetric defense capa19 bilities as rapidly as possible, including from 

20 suppliers in the United States or other coun21 tries, if the Secretary of Defense determines 

22 that such suppliers will be able to provide such 

23 capabilities at a reasonable cost, in sufficient 

24 quantities, of sufficient quality and technical 


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1 standards, and more rapidly than suppliers in 

2 Taiwan; and 

3 (D) to undertaking the defense reforms re4 quired to maximize the effectiveness of an 

5 asymmetric defense against an invasion by the 

6 People’s Republic of China, including by im7 proving organization, mobilization, and training 

8 of the reserve forces and other military per9 sonnel of Taiwan. 

10 (3) SUBSEQUENT CERTIFICATIONS.—Amounts 

11 authorized to be appropriated under subsection (b) 

12 for each of fiscal years 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027 

13 may not be obligated or expended until the date on 

14 which the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with 

15 the Secretary of State, certifies that the Government 

16 of Taiwan has committed— 

17 (A) to spending an equivalent amount on 

18 asymmetric defense capabilities in the applica19 ble fiscal year and upheld its commitment to 

20 spend an equivalent amount as the United 

21 States in the preceding fiscal year on asym22 metric defense capabilities to be deployed by 

23 Taiwan; 

24 (B) to spending not less than three percent 

25 of Taiwan’s national gross domestic product on 


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1 defense on an annual basis by the end of fiscal 

2 year 2027, including expenditures under the 

3 normal defense budget and any supplemental or 

4 special defense budgets of Taiwan, and dem5 onstrated progress toward that spending target 

6 in the preceding fiscal year; 

7 (C) to acquiring asymmetric defense capa8 bilities as rapidly as possible, including from 

9 suppliers in the United States or other coun10 tries, if the Secretary of Defense determines 

11 that such suppliers will be able to provide such 

12 capabilities at reasonable cost, in sufficient 

13 quantities, of sufficient quality and technical 

14 standards, and more rapidly than suppliers in 

15 Taiwan, and upheld its commitment to acquire 

16 asymmetric defense capabilities as rapidly as 

17 possible in the preceding fiscal year; and 

18 (D) to undertaking the defense reforms re19 quired to maximize the effectiveness of an 

20 asymmetric defense against an invasion by the 

21 People’s Republic of China, including by im22 proving the organization, mobilization, and 

23 training of the reserve forces and other military 

24 personnel of Taiwan, and demonstrated 


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1 progress on such reforms in the preceding fiscal 

2 year. 

3 (4) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

4 than 30 days after making a certification under 

5 paragraph (2) or (3), the Secretary of Defense shall 

6 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 

7 notice and explanation of such certification. 

8 (5) REMAINING FUNDS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), amounts appropriated for a fiscal 

11 year pursuant to the authorization of appro12 priations under subsection (b) that are not obli13 gated and expended during that fiscal year shall 

14 be added to the amount that may be used for 

15 the Initiative in the subsequent fiscal year. 

16 (B) RESCISSION.—Amounts appropriated 

17 pursuant to the authorization of appropriation 

18 under subsection (b) that remain unobligated 

19 by the end of fiscal year 2027 shall be re20 scinded and deposited into the general fund of 

21 the Treasury. 

22 (g) DEFENSE ARTICLES AND SERVICES FROM

23 UNITED STATES INVENTORY AND OTHER SOURCES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to assistance 

25 provided pursuant to subsection (c), the Secretary of 


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1 Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, 

2 may make available to the Government of Taiwan, 

3 in such quantities as the Secretary of Defense con4 siders appropriate for the purpose described in sub5 section (d), the following: 

6 (A) Weapons and other defense articles 

7 from the United States inventory and other 

8 sources. 

9 (B) Excess defense articles from the 

10 United States inventory. 

11 (C) Defense services. 

12 (2) REPLACEMENT.—Amounts for the replace13 ment of any item provided to the Government of 

14 Taiwan under paragraph (1)(A) may be made avail15 able from the amount authorized to be appropriated 

16 under subsection (b). 

17 (h) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—Assistance may 

18 not be provided under this section after September 30, 

19 2027. 

20 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON CONVENTIONAL ARMS SALES. 

21 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con22 gress that— 

23 (1) historically, the Government of Taiwan has 

24 prioritized the acquisition of conventional weapons 

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1 feating an invasion by the People’s Republic of 

2 China at the expense of the timely acquisition of 

3 cost-effective and resilient asymmetric defense capa4 bilities; 

5 (2) the United States Government has often 

6 shared responsibility for the misguided prioritization 

7 of defense acquisitions described in paragraph (1) by 

8 approving sales of conventional weapons to Taiwan, 

9 despite knowledge that such sales would do little to 

10 enhance, and may even undermine, the ability of 

11 Taiwan to deter or defeat an invasion by the Peo12 ple’s Republic of China; 

13 (3) the misguided prioritization of defense ac14 quisitions described in paragraph (1) has not only 

15 undermined the ability of Taiwan to deter or defeat 

16 an invasion by the People’s Republic of China, but 

17 has also placed at greater risk of death or injury 

18 members of the United States Armed Forces who 

19 may come under attack or be asked to come to the 

20 aid of Taiwan to repel such an invasion; and 

21 (4) any future sales, leases, or other provision 

22 of conventional weaponry to Taiwan by the United 

23 States should be conditioned on meaningful progress 

24 by the Government of Taiwan on the acquisition of 

25 appropriate asymmetric defense capabilities. 


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1 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—For each of fiscal 

2 years 2023 through 2027, the United States Government 

3 shall not sell, lease, or otherwise provide military capabili4 ties to Taiwan other than asymmetric defense capabilities 

5 described in subsection (e) of section 3 until the earlier 

6 of— 

7 (1) the date on which the Secretary of Defense 

8 has submitted a notification under subsection (f)(4) 

9 of that section for the fiscal year in which the Gov10 ernment of Taiwan has requested the sale, lease, or 

11 other provision of military capabilities other than 

12 such asymmetric defense capabilities; or 

13 (2) the date on which the Secretary of Defense 

14 certifies to the appropriate committees of Congress 

15 that the sale, lease, or other provision to Taiwan of 

16 military capabilities other than such asymmetric de17 fense capabilities— 

18 (A) is necessary to enhance the ability of 

19 Taiwan to deter or, if necessary, defeat an inva20 sion by the People’s Republic of China; or 

21 (B) will not slow, delay, limit, or otherwise 

22 detract from or undermine the ability of Taiwan 

23 to deploy such asymmetric defense capabilities. 


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1 SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF 

2 CONGRESS. 

3 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate committees of 

4 Congress’’ means— 

5 (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

6 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and 

7 (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

8 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep9 resentatives. 

Æ 


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