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Reuters: Exclusive: Trump aims to exceed first term’s weapons sales to Taiwan, officials say
WASHINGTON/TAIPEI, May 30 (Reuters) - The United States plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taipei to a level exceeding President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the democratic island, according to two U.S. officials.
If U.S. arms sales to Taiwan do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to the island. It would also add new friction to the tense U.S.-China relationship.
‘DON’T GET IN THE WAY’
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) aim to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP this year through a special defense budget.
But the island’s parliament, controlled by opposition parties the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), passed budget cuts earlier this year that threatened to hit defense spending.
That triggered concerns in Washington, where officials and lawmakers have regularly said the U.S. cannot show more urgency over Taiwan’s defense than the island itself.
“We’re messaging pretty hard (in Taipei) to the opposition. Don’t get in the way of this. This isn’t a Taiwanese partisan question. This is a Taiwanese survival question,” one of the U.S. officials told Reuters.
