Taiwan’s parliament on Friday granted the government permission to proceed with signing agreements with the United States covering four arms sales packages, after officials cautioned that Taipei risked losing its place in the procurement queue if the deadline was missed.
The debate surrounding Taiwan’s defense spending has raised concerns in Washington, which remains the island’s most significant international supporter and main arms supplier, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations with Taipei, which China claims as its territory.
President Lai Ching-te’s administration has been pushing for parliament to approve an additional $40 billion in defense spending.
However, opposition parties that hold the majority of seats have resisted the proposal, arguing that the plans lack sufficient detail and saying they cannot approve what they described as “blank checks,” even though they support strengthening national defense.
Both opposition parties have instead presented their own defense spending plans, which are less costly.
Nevertheless, Taiwan’s defense ministry has warned that the letters of offer and acceptance for the U.S. weapons purchases must be signed promptly or the island could lose its position in the production and delivery schedule.
Following discussions on Thursday, lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition camps agreed that the government should be allowed to sign the agreements ahead of final approval of the spending proposals if necessary.
Parliament subsequently granted the formal legal authorization, with the measure passing unanimously and announced by parliament speaker Han Kuo-yu.
“This body upholds the principle of placing national security first and firmly defending territorial integrity,” Han said, reading out the wording of the resolution.
Han also stated that once the agreements are signed, the government must submit to parliament a “complete report on the delivery schedule for the relevant weapons”.
The weapons included in the deals are TOW anti-tank missiles, M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, Lockheed Martin-produced Javelin missiles and the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system.
Wang Ting-yu, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who serves on parliament’s defense committee, welcomed the decision.
“The advance authorization to sign before the budget is reviewed is intended to ensure that Taiwan’s acquisition of these important systems is not delayed or cancelled,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Earlier in the week, Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters that the letters of offer and acceptance for 82 HIMARS systems—part of an $11 billion U.S. arms sale package to Taiwan—would expire on March 26.
According to the defense ministry, Sunday is the deadline for signing agreements related to the other weapons systems.
The administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump had urged allied nations to increase defense spending, a policy that President Lai and his government have strongly supported.
