US Lawmakers Prepare Taiwan Lend-Lease Bill as Regional Tensions Seethe | Farsnews Agency

 A group of congressional Republicans are putting together a lend-lease military assistance bill for Taiwan.

The draft legislation, cosponsored by Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, Florida Senator Rick Scott and California Representative Michelle Steel, is dubbed the ‘Taiwan Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act’, and authorizes the expedited lend or lease of defense articles to Taipei in the event of Chinese “aggression”, Sputnik reported

Like its World War II-era counterpart, the bill would allow the United States to send weapons to the island without entering directly into a potential conflagration with the People’s Republic of China. The bill proposes a 12-year window for repayment for the lent or leased weapons.

“Taiwan is our greatest partner in the Indo-Pacific region, and their continued sovereignty is essential to challenging the New Axis of Evil,” Blackburn said in a press statement – referring to Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.