US Senators Visit Taiwan, Support Lai's US$40 Billion Defense Budget Bill
A bipartisan US Senate delegation has arrived in Taiwan, led by Senate Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, and John Curtis, a Republican. The group met President Lai Ching-te and endorsed his US$40 billion special defense budget proposal.
US Senators Visit Taiwan
REPORTER:
A bipartisan delegation from the US senate is in Taiwan, looking to support bilateral ties and stress the importance of Taiwan’s defense.
REPORTER:
The group is led by Senate Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, and Republican senator John Curtis. They met President Lai Ching-te Monday morning, where both sides showed support for the president’s stalled $40 billion US dollar defense budget.
Lai Ching-te (TAIWAN PRESIDENT):
To comprehensively enhance asymmetric warfare capabilities and achieve the goal of effective deterrence this special budget was put forward following thorough evaluations and planning by the defense ministry as well as consultations with the US on arms procurement.
REPORTER:
The senators doubled down on the defense proposal’s importance to maintaining regional security and defending the country from China.
Jeanne Shaheen (US SENATOR):
We recognize and welcome the steps Taiwan has taken to strengthen its own defense and resilience, they are critical to sustaining deterrence.
John Curtis (US SENATOR):
I would like to personally endorse the special defense budget and tell you back in Washington DC my colleagues are watching, this is important, we want to make sure that if we invest in this part of the world, you are also investing, we’re in this together.
REPORTER:
The opposition Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party have also put forward their own versions of the special defense budget, though both come at less than 1/3 of the Lai administration’s proposal. The political deadlock around the competing proposals has raised alarm bells in Washington, which provides much of Taiwan’s defensive weapons.
REPORTER:
The delegation is also set to meet with KMT members during this trip, to stress just how important the budget is to the US, but opposition figures are not all in agreement on the issue.
In an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times, Taichung mayor and high-level KMT official Lu Shiow-yen said it would be reasonable to pass a special budget of up to 31 billion US dollars. Lu recently wrapped up an 11-day trip to the US.
REPORTER:
Kris Ma and Lery Hiciano, for TaiwanPlus.
