Taiwan presses for approval of $14bn US arms package
President William Lai said Taiwan wants Washington to clear the sale soon and repeated that only Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te said Taiwan wants the United States to approve a $14bn weapons package as soon as possible, amid growing pressure from China and continued scrutiny of Taipei’s defence spending. Speaking in Taipei on Thursday, Lai said Taiwan’s arms purchases show the island is prepared to defend itself.
Lai made the comments at a news conference with the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club, according to AFP and Reuters. He said Taiwan would keep close contact with the US government over the arms package, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May was under review.
Washington is Taiwan’s main security backer and is required under US domestic law to provide the island with means for self-defence. Taiwan has said US commitments to the island have not changed.
A senior US military official said last month that Washington was pausing the $14bn sale in order to conserve munitions for its war on Iran, according to the reports. Arms transfers to Taiwan have long been a source of tension between Washington and Beijing.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has increased military and diplomatic pressure on the island. Lai said Taiwan wants talks with China conducted on the basis of “parity and respect,” while stressing that Taiwan’s future can be decided only by its people.
“Taiwan’s safeguarding of its own national security and maintaining its democratic and free way of life, its refusal to accept unification, and its refusal to accept rule by the Chinese Communist Party should not be seen as a provocation against China,” Lai said.
Lai also said China should renounce the use of force and reduce its military activity in the Western Pacific, according to AFP and Reuters. Beijing has not ruled out force to bring Taiwan under its control.
The dispute over the US arms package comes as Lai pushes for higher defence spending at home. Last month, Taiwan’s parliament approved only about two-thirds of a $40bn defence budget proposed by Lai, cutting funding that had been intended for drones and locally made weapons.
On Thursday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said it was proposing another special defence package worth 210bn new Taiwan dollars, or $6.64bn, for surveillance and small unmanned surface drones.
The US has pressed Taiwan to spend more on defence, while Taiwan has argued that its military investments signal resolve to allies and adversaries. Lai said the arms purchases send an important message to the world that Taiwan is willing to protect itself.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.