Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, stated on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, that the United States must maintain its security commitments to Taiwan. His comments followed a meeting with Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s representative to the U.S., where Wicker emphasized the importance of adhering to the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.
The meeting occurred amid ongoing discussions regarding stalled security assistance. Last week, four other Republican senators called on the administration of President Donald Trump to release more than $15 billion in security assistance for Taiwan. In May, following a trip to Beijing, Trump stated he was keeping a new arms package worth approximately $14 billion in abeyance. Last week, the president met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington, later stating only that Xi understood his position on Taiwan.
Wicker noted that Congress has authorized a surge in resources, including enhanced training and arms sales, to address what he described as rising Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific. He urged the administration to follow the precedent established by President Ronald Reagan, known as the Six Assurances, which holds that Washington will not consult Beijing regarding arms sales to Taiwan. Taiwan’s Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Tuesday that the island remains in continuous talks with the U.S. and has received reassurances that policy remains unchanged.
For U.S. defense contractors and federal oversight committees, the delay in these sales impacts manufacturing timelines and the execution of Congressional mandates. Under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. is legally bound to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Failure to adhere to these provisions, according to Wicker, would depart from decades of established legal and diplomatic precedent that governs how the U.S. manages its unofficial security partnership in Asia.
The next steps involve the Trump administration's decision on whether to release the $14 billion package held since May and the broader $15 billion in stalled assistance requested by the senators. While Minister Koo stated that U.S. policy has not officially changed, the delivery of specific defense systems remains contingent on the administration's approval. No specific deadline for the release of these funds was reported.