He made this statement at a hearing in the US Senate Appropriations Committee.
"I am satisfied that the United States will soon provide substantial additional military assistance to Taiwan. Thanks to the authority to allocate funds [through approved defense spending] granted to [American] President [Joe Biden] by the [US] Congress last year," TASS quoted him as saying.
Austin did not specify which weapons will be included in the military aid package.
Earlier, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said that the People's Liberation Army of China is stepping up efforts to prepare for war because of US arms supplies to separatists in Taiwan.
Bloomberg previously reported that the United States is preparing to transfer $500 million worth of weapons to Taiwan under an accelerated procedure used to provide military assistance to Ukraine.