US commander warns Taiwan not to ‘starve the chicken’ on defense

The head of the U.S. command for the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday stressed the importance of Taiwan passing its stalled defense budget, saying the United States “can’t want Taiwan’s defense more than they want it itself.”

“It’s not a chicken and the egg, because you’re not going to get chicken or eggs if you starve the chicken,” Adm. Samuel Paparo told a hearing of the Senate Committee on Armed Services.

“So it’s very important for them to fund their own defense,” he said, when asked about the stalled talks.

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te last year proposed $40 billion in extra defense spending to counter China, which views the island as its own territory.

Taiwan’s parliament, where the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party has a majority, is continuing to debate the government’s plan and competing, less expensive proposals.

Washington is obliged under U.S. law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, and American senators have sought to reassure Taiwan that the U.S. will approve another round of arms sales worth as much as $14 billion soon.

A group of 37 bipartisan U.S. lawmakers wrote to senior Taiwanese politicians in February expressing concern about the parliament stalling defense spending plans and a separate group of U.S. lawmakers gave a similar message during a subsequent visit to Taipei.

“We did secure private assurances from KMT leadership that a robust defense package would eventually be approved,” a Democratic congressional aide who had recently traveled to Taiwan said.

The KMT says it supports defense spending, but will not sign “blank checks” and that dialogue with Beijing is equally important.

In Taipei, ruling party lawmakers have expressed anger at the KMT for skipping defense budget talks and for its leader Cheng Li-wun visiting China, where she made a plea for peace, saying birds not missiles should fly in the skies.

美国印太地区司令部司令周二强调了台湾通过其停滞不前的国防预算的重要性，称美国“不可能比自己更渴望台湾的国防”。

“这不是先有鸡还是先有蛋的问题，因为如果你让鸡挨饿，你就不会得到鸡或蛋，”海军上将塞缪尔·帕帕罗在参议院军事委员会的听证会上说道。

“所以对他们来说，筹集国防资金非常重要，”当被问及陷入僵局的谈判时，他说。

台湾总统赖清德去年提议增加 400 亿美元的国防开支，以对抗视台湾为自身领土的中国。

台湾立法院（国民党占多数席位）正在继续辩论政府的计划以及其他成本更低的替代方案。

根据美国法律，华盛顿有义务向台湾提供自卫手段，美国参议员也试图向台湾保证，美国很快将批准新一轮价值高达 140 亿美元的对台军售。

今年2月，37名来自美国两党的议员联名致信台湾高级政治人物，表达了对台湾立法院拖延国防开支计划的担忧；随后，另一批美国议员在访问台北期间也表达了类似的关切。

一位近期曾到访台湾的民主党国会助理表示：“我们确实从国民党领导层那里获得了私下保证，一项强有力的国防方案最终将会获得批准。”

国民党表示支持国防开支，但不会开“空白支票”，并认为与北京对话同样重要。

在台北，执政党立法委员对国民党缺席国防预算谈判以及其领导人郑丽雯访问中国表示愤怒。郑丽雯在中国呼吁和平，称天空中应该飞的是鸟儿而不是导弹。