The head of the US command for the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday stressed the importance of Taiwan passing its stalled defence budget, saying the United States “can’t want Taiwan’s defence more than it wants it itself”.
“It’s not a chicken-and-egg situation, because you’re not going to get chickens or eggs if you starve the chicken,” Admiral Samuel Paparo told a hearing of the Senate Committee on Armed Services.
“So it’s very important for them to fund their own defence,” he said, when asked about the stalled talks.
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te last year proposed $40 billion in additional defence spending to counter China, which views the island as its own territory.
Taiwan’s parliament, where the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party has a majority, is continuing to debate the government’s plan and competing, less expensive proposals.
Washington is obliged under US law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, and American senators have sought to reassure Taiwan that the US will soon approve another round of arms sales worth as much as $14 billion.
A group of 37 bipartisan US lawmakers wrote to senior Taiwanese politicians in February expressing concern about parliament stalling defence spending plans, and a separate group of US lawmakers delivered a similar message during a subsequent visit to Taipei.
“We did secure private assurances from KMT leadership that a robust defence package would eventually be approved,” a Democratic congressional aide who had recently travelled to Taiwan said.
The KMT says it supports defence spending, but will not sign “blank cheques”, and that dialogue with Beijing is equally important.
In Taipei, ruling party lawmakers have expressed anger at the KMT for skipping defence budget talks and for its leader, Cheng Li-wun, visiting China, where she made a plea for peace, saying birds, not missiles, should fly in the skies.
