The US is likely to approve pending weapons sales to Taiwan in the coming weeks, a bipartisan group of senators assured Taiwanese lawmakers in a letter, urging Taipei to hasten its stalled defense spending in the face of pressure from China.
The letter comes ahead of a planned May 14 to 15 trip to China by US President Donald Trump, whose moves to secure a favorable trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) have raised concerns in the US and Taiwan that he could curb Washington’s military support for Taipei.
“The United States Congress is fully committed to the timely delivery of critical capabilities to Taiwan and we expect that pending sales will be announced in the coming weeks,” US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, wrote in the letter seen by Reuters.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen and Republican senators Thom Tillis and John Curtis also signed the letter.
Those packages include “counterdrone assets, an integrated battle command system, and medium-range munitions to enhance Taiwan’s air defenses,” the senators said in letter dated Tuesday addressed to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and top opposition lawmakers.
President William Lai (賴清德) in November proposed US$40 billion in extra defense spending to counter China, but the opposition, led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), has tied up the proposal in favor of its own, less expensive plan.
Last week, KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) visited China on what she called a “peace mission” to reduce tensions at a time when Beijing has stepped up military pressure against Taiwan.
US lawmakers have repeatedly pushed the Legislative Yuan to move forward with the defense outlays, and the letter reiterated the importance of enabling “not only procurement of American equipment but also speedier domestic production of asymmetric capabilities.”
China has long demanded a halt to weapons sales to Taiwan by the US, Taipei’s most important international backer despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties.
Xi told Trump in February that arms sales to Taiwan must be handled with “prudence,” and the Chinese leader is expected to press the Taiwan issue during Trump’s visit.
Nonetheless, the Trump administration in December approved a record US$11 billion in weapons sales to Taiwan.
Reuters has reported that weapons packages worth as much as US$14 billion could be announced by the Trump administration sometime following his trip, which was delayed from earlier this month.
In Taipei, DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) yesterday urged opposition parties to reach a consensus through next week’s classified briefing and caucus negotiations to pass the special defense bill as soon as possible and ensure the integrity of Taiwan’s defense system.
KMT Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) yesterday said that Han held a cross-caucus negotiation three days ago, and that next week, the Ministry of National Defense is expected to hold another special project briefing before another round of cross-caucus negotiation is to take place next week.
The review would proceed according to established procedures, he said, adding that any such commitments or goodwill from the US would have a positive impact on advancing the arms procurement legislation.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsin-han
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