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The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the defense appropriations bill function as Congress’s yearly shaping mechanism for the Department of Defense (DOD). Because it is one of the few authorization bills reliably passed every year, the NDAA assumes oversized importance for both Congress and the DOD. In an increasingly more threatening global security environment, where the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation are actively challenging U.S. interests, the NDAA gains even more importance.

China’s ambassador to the United States warned that Taiwan’s continued desire for independence would “most likely” involve a “military conflict.”

The Chinese air force flew roughly 40 military planes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the largest platoon to do so dating back to an October offensive.

The U.S. is Taiwan’s largest arms supplier with agreed deals worth more than $23 billion since 2010.

Middle-East Arab News and Opinion - Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, printed simultaneously each day on four continents in 14 cities