US Senators Publicly Back Lai's Full NT$1.25T Special Defense Budget in TaiwanPlus Statements

Following the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee bipartisan delegation's March 30 Taipei visit (Senators Shaheen, Curtis, Rosen, and Tillis), US senators publicly reiterated on April 4 their backing for President Lai Ching-te's full NT$1.25 trillion (approximately US$40 billion) special defense budget. TaiwanPlus reported the senators called for Taiwan's Legislative Yuan to pass the bill without further delay, citing Taiwan's strategic significance, the urgency of deterrence investments, and the need to avoid procurement timeline delays for priority weapons systems including HIMARS, M109A7 howitzers, and loitering munitions. The senators' April 4 statements reinforced AIT Director Raymond Greene's March 29 endorsement of the full NT$1.25T bill and his call for 5% GDP defense spending by 2030. Washington's consistent pressure — from White House, State Department, AIT, and now Congress — reflects alarm that the NT$1.25T bill is being stalled by opposition bloc maneuvers potentially influenced by Beijing's outreach to KMT ahead of the Trump-Xi summit.