United States Congressman Michael McCaul on Wednesday called on Taiwan to increase its defense budget, which he said is essential to protect the country from China’s aggression.
While visiting the Legislature in Taipei, McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was greeted by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the opposition Kuomintang and delivered a speech.
Taiwan’s security is under threat from China, which last week “sent an armada of ships and aircraft” in the proximity of Taiwan, McCaul said, referring to the military exercises staged by China around Taiwan on May 23 and 24 in response to President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) inaugural speech on May 20.
Photo: CNA.
“The United States Congress wants Taiwan to increase its defense budget, for without budget increases, Taiwan will not be able to protect democracy from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) aggression,” he said.
Underlining firm U.S. support for Taiwan’s security, he said the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which included funding to shore up Taiwan’s defense, was “probably the most popular vote on the House floor.”
U.S. President Joe Biden signed the act into law last month after it garnered bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress.
Noting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, which directs the U.S. government to provide Taiwan with weapons necessary to defend itself, McCaul told Han: “Mr. Speaker, I promise you I will get those weapons to you as soon as possible.”
“It is my sincere hope here today, that your parliament can come together and speak with one voice as one nation as the United States Congress did in support of Taiwan’s national defense,” he said.
McCaul also said he had witnessed “democracy at work” in Taiwan in the past few days.
With indirect reference to the mass protests against the “legislative reform” bills that cleared the legislative floor on Tuesday, McCaul said “peaceful protesters are making their voices heard without fear of retaliation.”
“That people can gather and protest proves Taiwan is a beacon of democracy,” the Texas Republican added.
That, McCaul said, is in stark contrast with communist China, which “brutally cracks down on peaceful dissent, like in Hong Kong and Tiananmen Square,” which makes it an enemy of democracy.
McCaul is leading a delegation on behalf of House Speaker Mike Johnson to mark the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), whom he met on Monday.
The delegation also includes Republicans Young Kim, Joe Wilson, and Andy Barr, and Democrats Jimmy Panetta and Chrissy Houlahan.
Wednesday’s visit to the Legislature was McCaul’s second, following his last trip in April 2023, during which he met with Han’s predecessor, You Si-kun (游錫?) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS