US President Donald Trump is expected to submit a US$14 billion arms package for Taiwan to the US Congress soon, US Representative Michael McCaul said in Taipei yesterday, adding that US arms sales to Taiwan would not be affected by Washington’s ties with Beijing.
“I love Taiwan,” McCaul, who is a former chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in Mandarin as he started his opening speech at the 10th Ketagalan Forum on Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue.
“Taiwan is proof that democracy does work,” he said, adding that while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tries to undermine the US-Taiwan partnership and change US policy toward Taiwan, the US Congress has always been and is the largest bipartisan supporter of Taiwan in the world.
Photo: CNA
The US policy mandated in the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 remains alive and well for promoting a free and democratic Taiwan, and the US is still making progress to provide arms to Taiwan according to the act, he added.
They include the largest, US$11 billion, foreign military sales package directed to Taiwan, signed off by the US Congress in December last year, he said, adding that he is confident Trump would forward another package to the Congress soon with an additional US$14 billion in defense procurement items.
He hoped to see Taiwan pass its annual defense budget, as it is critical to funding domestic drone production, as well as to show Taiwan’s commitment to its own self-defense and justify the leap of faith in Washington, McCaul said.
Photo: CNA
Referencing former US president Ronald Reagan, he said only through strength can the deterrence needed to secure peace regionally and globally be provided.
“The US does not consult with the People’s Republic of China on its arms sales to Taiwan,” which is still the policy of the US today, he said.
“The increasing belligerence of the CCP poses a direct threat not only to Taiwan, but to the entire global balance of power,” McCaul said, adding that the CCP is testing its capabilities and Taiwan’s vulnerabilities as groundwork for a potential invasion.
“The CCP’s actions are not isolated incidents,” he said. “They are part of a broader, deliberate strategy to assert dominance in the region, challenging international norms and threatening the sovereignty of neighboring countries.”
In face of CCP’s escalating threats in the region, McCaul called for US partner nations to respond with unity in the Indo-Pacific region.
The CCP’s agenda has backfired, instead moving the free world to come together and support each other, McCaul said, adding that he is proud to say that “Taiwan has the highest level of defense readiness and capabilities that I have seen in my 22 years in Congress.”
Cybersecurity is just as important as missiles and drones, he said, adding that he hoped to see the US-Taiwan partnership involve drone coproduction and technology, creating a “hornet’s nest” defense of Taiwan.
“Our ultimate goal must be deterrence, which leads to peace,” he said. “The US stands with you in pursuit of a peaceful, freeup and democratic Taiwan.”
“Taiwan stands as an enduring pillar of freedom to check and to stop the spread of the CCP’s malign influence across Asia,” he added.
Referencing President William Lai’s (賴清德) remarks that “the Republic of China [Taiwan] is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China,” McCaul said the CCP would not succeed in forcing unification, as it never controlled Taiwan.
Taiwan would always have a steadfast partner in the US, he added.
Meanwhile, in the opening session of the forum, Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) cofounder and executive director Luke de Pulford and Japan IPAC co-chair Gen Nakatani, a former Japanese minister of defense, presented an IPAC statement condemning China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law for violating human rights violations.
China last month implemented the law, which touts national unity and says that people or organizations, whether inside or outside China, who undermine ethnic unity or promote ethnic division can be held liable by Chinese authorities.
After thanking IPAC on behalf of the people of Taiwan for its support, Lai in his opening remarks said China’s new law infringes upon Taiwan’s sovereignty and persecutes religions and minority groups, and China is using different forms of transnational repression to spread its political censorship around the world.
“The entire international community should come together and strongly oppose this malicious law,” he said.
Facing China’s spreading authoritarianism and threats from its ethnic unity law, Taiwan’s course is clear — safeguarding the values of freedom and democracy, maintaining regional peace and stability, and fostering global prosperity and development, he said.
Taiwan will deepen cooperation with friends and allies to defend free speech, harden defense, and foster resilience around the world while upholding the rules-based international order, he said.
Taiwan is focusing on three key technologies — silicon photonics, quantum computing, and robotics — and is a hub for artificial intelligence infrastructure, Lai said, adding that it would continue to lead tech development and deepen industry and trade ties and build long-range supply chains with democratic partners.
“This will make our economies more resilient and our nations more secure and prosperous,” he said. “Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy. We are also a cornerstone of peace in the Indo-Pacific.”
Nakatani said China’s new law raises concerns about assimilation policies and intensified persecution of ethnic minorities, particularly its potential for extraterritorial application and the infringement of sovereignty.
To counter China’s cross-border repression, a shift in perception is needed, he said, adding that transnational repression on individuals should not be viewed as police activity, but as China exercising external influence.
Taiwan, although threatened by this influence, exists as a strong member of the international community with the determined will and capabilities, and has made significant contributions, he said.
“As our closest neighbor, Japan will continue to walk alongside Taiwan,” he said.
Former Canadian deputy prime Minister Chrystia Freeland urged democratic countries to publicly oppose China’s ethnic unity law, saying that it mirrors tactics Russia used before launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Freeland praised the Taiwanese people for their courage and determination in defending freedom and democracy, highlighting that this year is the 30th anniversary of Taiwan’s first direct presidential election in 1996.
Preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait was important, as was supporting Taiwan’s inclusion in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional trade bloc of which Canada is a member, she said.
In his opening remarks, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said today’s security challenges extend far beyond conventional military conflict, warning that China is using gray-zone tactics and hybrid warfare to threaten Taiwan and the broader Indo-Pacific, with influence operations reaching into international politics, national governance, and everyday life.
Lin also warned that China’s newly enacted ethnic unity law provides Beijing with a legal pretext to carry out transnational repression and intimidation, seeking to silence overseas communities and democratic societies while undermining freedom of speech, national sovereignty, and the rule of law.
The threat extends well beyond Taiwan, he said.
"It is a direct challenge to freedom of speech, human rights, and the international order," Lin said. "We call on the democratic community to jointly oppose malicious legislation that seeks to place domestic law above international law."
"We must not allow authoritarian regimes to erode human rights and national sovereignty around the world. We must strengthen our collective defenses to ensure that no form of coercion can undermine our free will," he added.
Lin said Taiwan, on the front line of countering China’s growing authoritarian assertiveness, is adopting more flexible and comprehensive diplomatic strategies, including value-based and integrated diplomacy.
He said Taiwan is deepening cooperation with like-minded partners in areas including security, trade, technology, and democratic governance to advance what he described as "value-added diplomacy," while also sharing its experience in countering China’s authoritarian expansion with allies and partners.
Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Dlamini also delivered a keynote speech, stating the more than half-century of diplomatic ties between Eswatini and Taiwan has been built on mutual trust, shared values, and a spirit of solidarity.
Despite shifting geopolitical circumstances, the relationship has never been based on convenience or short-term interests, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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