A bipartisan group of 37 US lawmakers have written to senior Taiwanese politicians expressing concern about the legislature stalling proposed defense spending, saying that the threat posed by China has never been greater.
President William Lai (賴清德) last year proposed US$40 billion in extra defense spending to counter threats from China. However, the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), which together have a majority in the Legislative Yuan, have refused to review the proposal on the grounds that Lai refuses to include the increased military salary in his budget, the bill for which passed a third reading last year.
The US letter, addressed to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads of the KMT and the TPP, as well as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip, stated that the US and Taiwan shared a strong and enduring partnership.
Photo: Reuters
“However, the threat posed by the People’s Republic of China against Taiwan has never been greater. [Chinese President] Xi Jinping (習近平) is focusing every element of the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] national power to control Taiwan,” the letter said.
The US must address the massive backlog in weapons deliveries to Taiwan, but Taipei needs to step up, too, it added.
“We commend Taiwan for making important progress in strengthening its military readiness, reserve forces, and asymmetric defense capabilities,” it said. “Nevertheless, we fear that without significant increases in Taiwan’s defense spending at levels reflected in President Lai’s proposed special budget, this progress will be insufficient.”
Signatories of the letter included US senators Pete Ricketts and Chris Coons — senior members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — and US House Committee on Foreign Affairs senior members Young Kim and Ami Bera.
KMT spokesman Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) yesterday said the defense budget “is certainly vital,” and added that “it is just as crucial to ensure that no one uses special defense legislation as a vehicle to smuggle in unrelated measures.”
“We will respond to expectations from the US. At the same time, the KMT caucus will not compromise on its responsibility to strictly oversee and scrutinize the budget throughout the process,” he said, adding that as soon as the new legislative session formally begins after the Lunar New Year holidays, details about the KMT caucus’ version of the special arms procurement bill are expected to be announced.
The TPP said it has always supported a “reasonable and steadily growing” defense budget and understood the US’ concerns, adding that spending requests had to be subject to democratic oversight and fiscal discipline.
Meanwhile, the DPP said it agreed with the letter and hoped the recipients would read it “thoroughly.”
Additional reporting by Liu Wan-lin
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