TAIPEI: U.S. lawmakers visiting Taipei on Monday urged approval of President Lai Ching-te's stalled US$40 billion defence budget, warning further delays risk undermining the island's ability to deter Chinese military pressure even as Washington accelerates arms sales and security support.
The U.S. is democratically governed Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties. China claims Taiwan as its own territory over the island's rejection.
Lai's proposed US$40 billion in extra defence spending is currently stalled in the opposition-controlled parliament.
U.S. Republican Senator John Curtis, who arrived in Taipei on Monday with a delegation of three other lawmakers on a visit, has long been a strong friend of Taiwan. The visit comes at a time when Beijing has ramped up military and political pressure to force the democratic island to accept its sovereignty.
"We're here to enforce that message and demonstrate to the people here in Taiwan that we are together a very important part of the safety and the unity around this world," Curtis told reporters in the presidential office in Taipei after meeting Lai.
"I'd like to personally endorse the special defence budget and tell you back in Washington, D.C., that my colleagues are watching, that this is important. We want to make sure that as we invest in this part of the world, that you are also investing and that we're in this together."
Taiwan's opposition-dominated parliament is continuing to debate Lai's defence spending proposal, though it has already authorised the government to sign U.S. agreements for four arms sales packages worth some US$9 billion before the budget is passed.
The top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan, Raymond Greene, and Taiwan's National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu also attended the briefing with reporters. The United States has strongly supported Lai's efforts to boost Taiwan's armaments as part of a push by the Trump administration to get U.S. allies to spend more on defence.
"We are concerned by the increased pressure from Beijing, including military activity around Taiwan that raises the risk of miscalculation," said Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
China has been ramping up its political and military pressure against Taiwan, including holding war games, the last of which took place in December shortly after Washington approved an US$11 billion arms sale package for the island.
The United States is currently preparing a second arms sale package for Taiwan worth some US$14 billion, sources have previously told Reuters.
