By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe&nbsp;Biden's administration has approved a&nbsp;military&nbsp;transfer to&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;under&nbsp;the Foreign&nbsp;Military&nbsp;Financing, or FMF,&nbsp;program&nbsp;normally&nbsp;used&nbsp;for&nbsp;sovereign&nbsp;states, according to a notification sent to Congress.
The notification, which was seen by Reuters on Wednesday, informs congressional committees of the State Department's intention to obligate up to $80 million in FMF funds in support of&nbsp;Taiwan.
"FMF will be&nbsp;used&nbsp;to strengthen&nbsp;Taiwan's self-defense capabilities through joint and combined defense capability and enhanced maritime domain awareness and maritime security capability," the notification said.
Taiwan's defense ministry expressed its thanks, but said&nbsp;it had no comment on the details of the&nbsp;aid, noting that the United&nbsp;States&nbsp;has already been helping strengthen the island's combat capabilities&nbsp;under&nbsp;existing policies and laws.
The&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;notification was first reported by the Associated Press.
Representative Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said&nbsp;he was glad the administration was "finally" providing FMF to&nbsp;Taiwan.
"These weapons will not only help&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;and protect other democracies in the region, but also strengthen the U.S. deterrence posture and ensure our national security from an increasingly aggressive CCP (Chinese Communist Party)," McCaul said&nbsp;in a statement.
FMF, the largest&nbsp;military&nbsp;assistance account managed by the State Department, provides primarily grant assistance to foreign governments for the purchase of U.S. defense equipment and&nbsp;military&nbsp;training&nbsp;under&nbsp;the Foreign&nbsp;Military&nbsp;Sales&nbsp;program.
A State Department official confirmed the notification to Congress and said&nbsp;the decision to provide&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;with FMF assistance did not reflect any change in U.S. policy.
Beijing claims the democratically governed island as its own territory, and warns against any forms of "official exchanges" between Washington and Taipei.&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;rejects China's&nbsp;sovereignty claims and says only&nbsp;Taiwan's people can decide their future.
China has repeatedly complained to the United&nbsp;States&nbsp;about&nbsp;military&nbsp;aid&nbsp;and sales to the island. Its defense ministry has said&nbsp;the U.S.&nbsp;military&nbsp;must stop all forms of "military&nbsp;collusion" with the island.
The United&nbsp;States,&nbsp;Taiwan's most important arms supplier, last month announced a&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;weapons&nbsp;aid&nbsp;package worth up to $345 million.
Last week, the United&nbsp;States&nbsp;also approved a possible $500 million sale to&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;of infrared search and track systems for F-16 fighter jets, as well as other equipment.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Gerry Doyle)

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Biden approves military aid to Taiwan under program normally used for sovereign states