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 China.
However, the opposition, which has a majority in the legislature, has refused to review the proposal and instead advanced its own, less expensive proposals, which only fund the purchase of some of the US weapons Lai wants.
Photo: AFP
The US letter, addressed to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads of the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP), as well as caucus whip for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said the US and Taiwan share a strong and enduring partnership.
"However, the threat posed by the People's Republic of China [PRC] against Taiwan has never been greater. [Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] is focusing every element of the PRC's national power to control Taiwan," the letter released yesterday said.
The US must address the massive backlog in weapons deliveries to Taiwan, but Taiwan needs to step up too, the letter said.
"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," it added.
Signatories to the letter including US senators Pete Ricketts and Chris Coons, senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Young Kim and Ami Bera, senior members of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
Several US lawmakers have already made public expressions of concern about the stalled budget.
There was no immediate response to the letter from the KMT or TPP.
The parties say they support defense spending, but would not sign "blank checks" and that they have a duty to fully scrutinize all budget proposals.
The DPP in a statement said it agreed with the letter and hoped the recipients would read it "thoroughly."
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