{"id":348358,"date":"2026-03-30T21:58:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T02:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/us-lawmakers-express-support-for-stalled-taiwan-special-defense-budget"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:58:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T02:58:34","slug":"us-lawmakers-express-support-for-stalled-taiwan-special-defense-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/us-lawmakers-express-support-for-stalled-taiwan-special-defense-budget","title":{"rendered":"US lawmakers specific assist for stalled Taiwan particular protection price range"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB \">TAIPEI, Taiwan &#8212; <\/span>The United States supports efforts by Taiwan&#8217;s government to pass a <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/taiwan-defense-budget-arms-purchases-spending-c1f34ad69a12b9599f4a356abd3b31c4\">$40 billion special defense budget<\/a> that is being stalled in the opposition-controlled parliament, a group of visiting U.S. lawmakers said Monday in Taipei.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">A bipartisan group of four senators arrived in Taiwan as part of an Asia trip meant to bolster U.S. alliances and counter China\u2019s influence in the region, ahead of a <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-china-trip-iran-war-401c4c33a01b2acce72e96eb8058f8cc\">summit<\/a> planned in May between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire) and Jacky Rosen (Nevada) and Republican Senators John Curtis (Utah) and Thom Tillis (North Carolina) on Monday met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te at the start of a two-day trip focused on bolstering the two sides\u2019 informal ties. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own breakaway province, to be retaken by force if necessary and prohibits all its diplomatic partners, including the U.S., from maintaining formal ties with Taipei.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The U.S., while not recognizing Taiwan as a country, is the island\u2019s strongest informal backer and arms provider.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-taiwan-arms-sales-china-2743b66e3a4e47a895e731568cef9008\">Massive U.S. arms sales<\/a> to Taiwan are expected to be discussed at the Xi-Trump summit, with China pushing against the sales.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday criticized the congressional visit, urging the U.S. to \u201chandle the Taiwan question prudently and properly, stop all forms of official exchanges with Taiwan, and stop sending any wrong signals to Taiwan independence separatist forces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cChina\u2019s position on the Taiwan-related issue is consistent and clear,\u201d spokesperson Mao Ning said. \u201cChina will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">During the meeting with Lai, Curtis praised Taiwan\u2019s progress \u201con strengthening its defense, whole society preparedness and energy security, especially over the last year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThe seriousness is noticed in Washington D.C., and your efforts on the special defense budget are also noticed and supported,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Taiwan\u2019s government is trying to push forward a $40 billion special defense budget that over eight years would see investments in building a sophisticated missile defense system dubbed the \u201cT-dome,\u201d integrating artificial intelligence into national defense and developing Taiwan\u2019s indigenous defense industry, among others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The budget is currently being stalled in parliament, with opposition parties proposing smaller defense budgets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Lai renewed calls for the parliament to pass the special defense budget \u201cwithout delay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI want to reassure you and all of our friends in the United States that my government\u2019s resolve and commitment to enhancing our self-defense capabilities, strengthening Taiwan-U.S. cooperation and ensuring national security remain unwavering,\u201d he told the visiting lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The opposition leader, KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wun, said Monday she would be visiting China next month in an attempt to promote \u201cpeaceful\u201d relations with Beijing. Cheng had previously expressed interest in meeting with Xi, though it wasn\u2019t clear if a meeting with the Chinese leader was on her trip\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Beijing refuses to speak to Lai and has labeled him a separatist who wants to turn Taiwan into a \u201cpowder keg.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/wireStory\/us-lawmakers-express-support-stalled-taiwan-special-defense-131540174\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TAIPEI, Taiwan &#8212; The United States supports efforts by Taiwan&#8217;s government to pass a $40 billion special defense budget that is being stalled in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":348361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2774,13688,25481,12246,4432,609,1679,4067,173,641,270],"class_list":["post-348358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-asia","tag-beijing","tag-jeanne-shaheen","tag-john-curtis","tag-nevada","tag-president","tag-spokesperson","tag-taiwan","tag-united-states","tag-utah","tag-washington-d-c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348358"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":348360,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348358\/revisions\/348360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}