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On December 23, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), formalizing the record-breaking $858 billion annual defense budget that is $45 billion more than what he initially asked for. Within this behemoth, important clauses are allocated for rewriting U.S.'s relationship with China's Taiwan region.

The bill authorizes up to $10 billion grant between 2023 and 2027 for military-related purposes for Taiwan, along with allowing the U.S. President to give Taiwan $1 billion worth of weapons and munitions annually. It requires the State Department and the Pentagon to "establish or expand a comprehensive training program with Taiwan designed to enhance interoperability and capabilities for joint operations between the U.S. and Taiwan and to improve Taiwan's defense capabilities." And, most importantly, it commands the Secretary of Defense and State to establish a joint consultative mechanism with relevant Taiwan officials to "develop and implement a multi-year plan to provide for the acquisition of appropriate defensive capabilities by Taiwan" and to engage with Taiwan on trainings and exercises. 

It's killing two birds with one bill. These clauses cater to the aggressive anti-China political sentiment in the United States and continue to poke China in the eyes with its sovereignty issues. At the same time, it binds the Taiwan authorities – regardless of who is in charge – tighter to America's agenda.

As the world knows, politics in Taiwan is a battlefield between two major parties: The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that is widely recognized as "pro-independence"; and Kuomintang (KMT) that is seen as having a friendlier relationship with the Chinese mainland. The DPP has been holding the reins of power for the past several years. But the recent local election in Taiwan has seen KMT wining 13 seats out of the 21 county and city chief posts. DPP only had five. Power in this region is shifting dramatically.

If the United States seeks to continue keeping Taiwan as a weapon, it has to find a way to prolong and strengthen its hold that could be sustained through the power shifts in the region. And the NDAA 2023 helps the U.S. to achieve that. By establishing mechanisms with Taiwan officials that has stretched out through the years, it would ensure U.S.'s continuation of influence – either to strengthen its hand or at least mitigate the negative effects caused by power changing hands.

What is clear from the NDAA is U.S.'s future strategy. It is aimed to continue solidify U.S.'s military relationship with the Taiwan authority and, in the process, gradually expand the political relationship. It had already shown tales when a slew of lawmakers visited the region in the past couple of years. But with the different mechanism in place, the interaction would become more routinized and systematic.

It's a thorn in the China-U.S. relationship. Despite the relationship thawing in recent times with the continuous engagement between two countries' leaders, the Taiwan question remains a sensitive one. And for the current U.S. administration, its rhetorical walk-backs on the Taiwan question have often been proven staged with its consistent provocation through political, legislative and military means. The United States have squandered its credibility on the issue. And it is clear to anyone who's watching that America seeks to turn Taiwan into its forward-base in the region against the Chinese mainland.

And that doesn't bode well for China, for the Asia-Pacific and for the United States itself.

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