A bipartisan group of 37 U.S. lawmakers have written to senior Taiwanese political leaders concerned about the stall in parliament regarding a proposal for defence spending, citing that the threat of China has increased significantly.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te proposed an extra $40 billion in defence spending last year to counter China and its claim to the island nation as its own territory. However, the opposition, which has a majority in parliament, refuses to review the proposal and has pushed its own less expensive agenda, which only funds some of the U.S. weapons that Lai proposed.
China’s Threat Has ‘Never Been Greater’
The letter, addressed to the Taiwan parliament speaker Han Kuo-yu, heads of opposition parties Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), and the caucus whip for the Democratic Progressive Party, stated that the U.S. and Taiwan have shared a long-standing partnership.
“However, the threat posed by the People’s Republic of China against Taiwan has never been greater. Xi Jinping is focusing every element of the PRC’s national power to control Taiwan,” said the letter, released on Thursday.
While the U.S. is responsible for addressing the massive backlog in arms deliveries to Taiwan, Taiwan must also step up, the letter stated.
The letter is signed by Senators Pete Ricketts and Chris Coons, senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and senior members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Meanwhile, several other U.S. lawmakers have also expressed concern about the stalled budget.
Opposition Parties Divided
While the TPP has always supported the ‘reasonable and steady growth’ of a defence budget and is understanding of U.S. concerns, the spending requests must be subject to democratic oversight and fiscal discipline, it said in a statement.
The KMT has offered no response to the letter; however, the DPP is in agreement and hopes that the recipients will peruse it ‘thoroughly.’
Lai has once again urged the parliament to approve the spending measure, and Taiwan’s Defence Minister said that the delay in approving the spending risks a ‘rupture’ in the joint line of defence against China.
(With inputs from Reuters)
