US presses Taiwan parliament to pass 'comprehensive' defense budget

TAIPEI- The top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan on Monday pressed the island's opposition-majority parliament to pass a "comprehensive" defence budget, saying integrated air and missile defence systems and drones are critically important and in high demand globally.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te last year proposed $40 billion in supplemental defence spending, covering not only new U.S. weapons but also homemade weapons like drones, saying Taipei needs to more effectively deter the threat from China, which views the island as its own territory.

Lai says only Taiwan's people can decide the island's future.

But talks in parliament to advance the proposal have stalled, with the main Kuomintang (KMT) opposition party saying while they support defence spending, they won't sign "blank cheques" and want more details from the government.

In an interview with Taiwanese newspaper the China Times, Raymond Greene, the de facto U.S. ambassador in Taipei, said it was vital for Taiwan to pass a "comprehensive budget package."

"This would not only send a critical signal to the international community, but is also essential for ensuring Taiwan acquires the full range of defence capabilities it has requested," he said.

While the U.S. has already announced the sale of weapons including the Lockheed Martin-made LMT.N HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, Taiwan's special defence budget also seeks integrated air and missile defence systems and drones, among other things, Greene added.

"As evidenced on the battlefields of the Middle East and Ukraine, these systems are not only critically important but are also in extremely high demand worldwide," said Greene, who is head of the American Institute in Taiwan, which handles the unofficial relations between Washington and Taipei.

Taiwan's government has said delays to passing the budget could mean Taiwan risks losing its place in the production and delivery queue for U.S. weapons.

KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier this month on what she called a journey of peace, is planning to visit the U.S. in June.

Taiwan should not have to choose between China and the U.S. but the world is worried about the possibility of war between China and Taiwan, she told a local radio show on Monday.

"Who would be so foolish as to keep saying all day long that we have to choose between mainland China and the United States?" she said.

The U.S. is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier and in December it unveiled an $11 billion arms package, the largest ever for Taipei.

China has repeatedly demanded that the U.S. stop selling weapons to Taiwan.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)