DEFENSE/American senators question Taiwan opposition's defense budget stance

Washington, March 4 (CNA) Two American senators have questioned the efforts of Taiwan's opposition-controlled legislature to cut the country's defense spending, with one accusing Taiwan's opposition of "playing a dangerous game."

Speaking on Tuesday (U.S. time) at the Senate confirmation hearing of Elbridge Colby, the nominee to become under secretary of defense for policy, Republican Senator Dan Sullivan accused Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) of "playing a dangerous game on their defense budget."

"If anyone from Taiwan is watching this hearing, they need...to realize they're playing a dangerous game. Cutting defense spending right now is not the right signal," Sullivan said.

Independent Senator Angus King from Maine also questioned how lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan are handling defense spending.

"To me, one of the critical questions is how much is Taiwan committed to its own defense? It's disturbing to me that in recent months the parliament of Taiwan has moved to cut their defense plan," King said.

"And how are we to be expected to think about sending Americans into harm's way on behalf of an entity that doesn't seem all that interested in protecting itself?"

The senators were referring to the recent stalemate over the budget proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and the opposition lawmakers who wield a 62-51 majority in the 113-seat Legislature.

The DPP government proposed a defense budget for 2025 of NT$647 billion (US$19.7 billion), 6.6 percent higher than the 2024 NT$606.8 billion budget.

Opposition lawmakers decided to cut NT$8.4 billion from the budget, or about 1.3 percent of the amount requested, according to the Ministry of National Defense, which would still allow a 5.2 percent increase in defense spending.

They also froze another NT$90 billion in defense spending, or about 14 percent of the proposed budget, but those funds can be released if conditions tied to the frozen amounts are met.

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In response to King's question, Colby, who has long called for Taiwan to increase its defense spending to show it is serious about defending itself against a Chinese invasion, said he was "profoundly disturbed" by the Taiwan lawmakers' decision related to its self-defense.

Colby said he has called on Taiwan authorities to learn from the example of South Korea in terms of beefing up its defense, and he echoed Trump's previous call for Taiwan to increase its defense spending to 10 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).

The NT$647 billion proposed would be 2.45 percent of Taiwan's GDP, and President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced last month that his government would aim to increase defense spending to 3 percent of Taiwan's GDP this year, including through supplemental budgets.

Neither the DPP nor the KMT has ever called for defense spending that is anywhere near 10 percent of GDP.

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In response to the questions raised by the American senators, the KMT said in Taipei on Wednesday that the party supports "a moderate and effective increase" in the defense budget and military investment.

The KMT has always supported Taiwan-U.S. military security assistance cooperation and U.S. arms sales as long as they meet Taiwan's defensive needs, a KMT press statement said.

The party also supports improving the welfare of people in the armed forces, which was why it recently proposed to increase salaries and benefits for military personnel, the statement said.

Taiwan is heavily dependent on the U.S. to procure weapons because most countries refuse to make their weapons available to Taiwan for fear of angering China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold, by force if necessary.

There remains a US$20 billion backlog of weapons ordered by Taiwan that the U.S. has yet to deliver, including upgraded versions of the F-16 jet fighter.