Taiwan's Lai pushes U.S. to speed up new arms sales

What happened

President Lai Ching-te told the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club that Taiwan's safeguarding of its security, maintenance of democratic governance, and refusal of Chinese Communist Party rule should not be seen as provocation. He reiterated his desire for talks with China based on "parity and respect," but said only the Taiwanese people can decide their future. Lai also expressed hope that a new U.S. arms sale package can be approved soon.

Why it matters

Taiwan faces intensifying Chinese military and diplomatic pressure, and China views the island as its own territory. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he was still weighing whether to approve new arms sales for Taiwan, calling them "a very good negotiating chip" with China—a comment that unsettled Taiwan. Lai's statement reaffirms that Taiwan will not abandon its defense posture and seeks continued U.S. security backing despite these signals of uncertainty.

What to watch

Taiwan's defense ministry is proposing a special defense package worth 210 billion New Taiwan dollars ($6.66 billion（約1.1兆円）) for surveillance, coastal attack, and small unmanned surface drones. Parliament has already approved only two-thirds of a $40 billion（約6.4兆円） supplementary defense budget Lai had proposed earlier, cutting funding for drones and domestically produced weapons.