The US Department of Defense is preparing security assistance options for Taiwan, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs John Noh said yesterday, urging Taiwanese political parties to work together to pass a NT1.25 trillion (US$39.68 billion) special defense budget.
Noh and US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo attended a US House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services hearing which discussed US military deployment in the Indo-Pacific region and national security challenges.
The US calls “upon wealthy and capable allies and partners to share the burden of restoring and sustaining deterrence deterrence by increasing defense spending, meeting the new global standard of spending 3.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on core defense, and taking greater responsibility for their conventional defense,” Noh said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
“This is particularly critical for Taiwan,” he said.
President William Lai (賴清德) has committed to reach 5 percent of GDP in core defense spending by 2030, including a special defense budget that “addresses many of Taiwan’s most critical defense gaps,” Noh said.
The US Department of Defense worked closely with the Ministry of National Defense in the development of Taiwan’s “historic” special defense budget, he said, calling on the nation’s political parties to “work together to fund these requirements.”
“Taiwan must do more, and faster, to build on this positive momentum and ensure it has the self defense capability to meet the scale of the threat it faces,” he said.
Lai proposed the eight-year NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget late last year, but the plan has faced resistance from opposition parties, which have proposed lower funding ranging from NT$380 billion to NT$400 billion.
Asked about US security aid for Taiwan, Noh said that the department offers options including arms sales, as well as support through the Presidential Drawdown Authority and Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative.
The department is studying several options, he said, adding that it would report them to senior leaders, including US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and US President Donald Trump.
Addressing concerns raised by US Representative Salud Carbajal over delays in the delivery of US-made F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, Paparo emphasized the importance of integrated air and missile defense across domains and theaters.
Each foreign military sale must not only be delivered on time, but as early as possible, he said, adding that US agencies are working to resolve related issues.
Asked about what “non-kinetic” measures China could employ to assert control over Taiwan, he said they could include “united front” work, cognitive warfare and legal warfare, such as establishing new customs entities backed by the China Coast Guard and other law enforcement forces.
Other potential tactics include seizing Taiwan’s outlying islands or imposing a quarantine or blockade, he said, adding that they would be Beijing’s preferred options.
Beijing has not ruled out the use of force against Taiwan, he said in the statement.
In Taipei, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday said that he would work to build cross-party consensus on the special defense budget.
Lawmakers are this afternoon again scheduled to hold cross-party negotiations after they failed to reach a consensus on Wednesday last week.
Meanwhile, Han yesterday met with a delegation from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Legislative Yuan said in a statement.
He was accompanied by lawmakers, including Chen Yeong-kang (陳永康) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) of the Democratic Progressive Party and Wang An-hsiang (王安祥) of the Taiwan People’s Party, the statement said.
National security is an important issue valued by lawmakers across party lines, Han said, pledging to promote deliberation on the special defense budget to fulfill the legislature’s duty and respond to the public’s concerns about whether the budget would be used appropriately.
Despite having different stances, every party supports the defense budget, Chen said.
Facing increasing threats from China, Taiwan should shoulder responsibility for its own security and the legislature should support the defense budget, Wang Ting-yu said, adding that he hoped the CSIS delegation would continue to support Taiwan’s security after returning to the US.
Wang An-hsiang said he hoped that under Han’s leadership, a second round of cross-party negotiations on the special arms procurement bill would progress and deepen Taiwan-US cooperation in the military and supply chain sectors.
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