Taiwan has announced that the government will put forth a special $40 billion budget for arms purchases, in the face of US push for the island to increase its defence spending.
The budget will be used to purchase new defence systems, including those from the US, the island’s largest unofficial ally, Taiwan’s Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Wednesday.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said that a new $40 billion defence spending plan, which includes buying US arms, was not connected to the democratic island's ongoing tariff negotiations with Washington.
"This special defence budget has nothing to do with the tariff negotiations," Lai told reporters, adding that the main goal was to "demonstrate Taiwan's determination to defend" itself.
US welcomes the plan
The United States' top envoy in Taiwan on Wednesday said he "welcomes" the government's $40 billion military spending plan and urged the democratic island's political parties to "find common ground" on boosting its defences.
"Whether your priority is preserving Taiwan's democracy and market economy, fostering conditions for cross-Strait dialogue, or maintaining support from the international community, increasing Taiwan's defence capabilities is a necessary precondition," said Raymond Greene, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington's de facto embassy.
In mid-November, the US approved the sale of fighter jets and other aircraft parts to Taiwan for $330 million, in the first such deal since President Donald Trump took office in January, prompting thanks from Taipei and anger in Beijing.
The arms sales news comes amid a worsening diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo over Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory.
