US senators to urge passage of defence bill in visit to Taiwan

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US senators will urge lawmakers in Taiwan to pass a defence spending bill during a visit to the country beginning on Saturday aimed at showing support in the face of rising Chinese military pressure.

Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, and John Curtis, a Republican member of the panel and former Mormon missionary in Taiwan, will lead the bipartisan delegation, which includes Republican Thom Tillis and Democrat Jacky Rosen.

The first trip to Taiwan by US senators since last summer comes as President Lai Ching-te and his Democratic Progressive Party struggle to convince opposition Kuomintang lawmakers to pass a critical $40bn defence spending bill.

The legislation is required to pay for weapons Taipei plans to buy from US defence companies as part of an intensified effort to strengthen its security against increasingly assertive behaviour by the Chinese military.

The visit also comes weeks before Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to Beijing for a summit with Xi Jinping, which has stoked concerns in Taipei that the US president could agree to changes that reduce Washington’s support for Taiwan.

Shaheen told the FT before departing Washington on Friday: “That’s one of the reasons we think it’s very important for us in Congress to be there, to both affirm the support and talk about why it’s important . . . to see Taiwan taking these strong actions in defence of themselves.”

In addition to meeting Lai, the senators will meet KMT members. Shaheen said the delegation would stress the importance of passing the defence budget, which would help show that “Taiwan is equally committed to an independent future as members of Congress”.

Curtis told the FT the timing of the visit was particularly important because of the stalling of the defence spending bill.

“Taiwan’s consideration of . . . President Lai’s budget is so critical,” Curtis said. “Literally if we did nothing else other than to emphasise over there how important that is, that would be a big reason for going.”

In recent months, US lawmakers, including some of the strongest Taiwan supporters, have voiced frustration that Taipei has not passed the budget. Some supporters in Washington are worried Trump might be less willing to help the island nation if it cannot pass a bill to provide for its own defence.

“I’m concerned about his [Trump’s] commitment to reinforcing the United States’ support for Taiwan and not undermining their sovereignty,” Shaheen added.

The Trump administration has consistently said its Taiwan policy has not changed amid speculation in Washington that it might accede to a request from China to say that the US “opposes” Taiwanese independence.

In December, the administration announced a record $11.1bn arms sales package for Taiwan. It is working on another package worth at least $13bn to $14bn, but the notification to Congress has been delayed to avoid triggering an angry response from China before Trump’s visit on May 14-15.

Curtis said it was important for Beijing and Taipei not to overreact to the US visits, which have sparked anxiety across Asia. He said the US needed to ensure it had a good relationship with China.

“I like to describe our relationship with China like a marriage. It needs marriage counselling, but not a divorce,” Curtis said.

“If there is marriage counselling going on with the presidents of our two countries that’s healthy, because there is no world where this world is safe if we don’t have a good relationship with China.”

The senators will also fly to Seoul to meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. They will stop at US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii for discussions with Admiral Samuel Paparo, the commander of US forces in the Pacific region.

Shaheen said she planned to ask Paparo what impact the US war on Iran was having on the Indo-Pacific region. Some critics of the war in the Middle East are concerned that it is depleting US military assets in the Pacific. She said she also wanted to know what kind of support China was giving Iran.

The senators will also travel to Japan, including stops in Tokyo and Okinawa.