TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Samuel Paparo said Tuesday that Washington cannot prioritize Taiwan’s defense more than Taiwan itself, urging Taipei to boost military spending as US lawmakers push for passage of a special defense budget.
The US Senate held a hearing on the posture of the US Indo-Pacific Command, with Paparo and other military leaders in attendance, per CNA. Lawmakers raised concerns over China’s military threat to Taiwan and the need to pass a special defense budget.
Responding to Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, the US Indo-Pacific commander admiral said US policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged. He noted that for nearly 50 years, since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, arms sales have remained consistent.
Paparo said, “It’s not a chicken and the egg, because you’re not going to get chicken or eggs if you starve the chicken,” underscoring the need for Taiwan to fund its own defense, per Reuters.
Shaheen, who led a delegation to Taiwan in late March, said her delegation made the case that passing the defense budget would send a message to China and to the US Congress. She stressed that Congress "is very supportive of Taiwan and would like to see this action taken,” CNA reported.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton asked whether KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun's (鄭麗文) recent visit to China would affect Taiwan’s future defense spending. Paparo replied, “I think the proof will be in the pudding,” saying that progress on the special defense budget would demonstrate the extent to which Taiwan is committed to its own defense.
Asked about Taiwan’s willingness to defend itself, Paparo said he has strong confidence in the resolve and capabilities of its military-age population.
He noted that polling in Ukraine before the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine War showed relatively low willingness to fight, yet society’s response was admirable. “Taiwan's polling is orders of magnitude above that, leading me to positively assert their willingness to defend themselves,” said Paparo.
On April 14, four US senators, including Shaheen, sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and the leaders of legislative caucuses from Taiwan’s political parties, urging Taiwan to expedite legislation on a special arms procurement bill.
President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has proposed an additional NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) defense budget over eight years last year to counter China. However, the opposition led by the KMT has blocked the plan and is instead pushing a scaled-down version.
