Take on the gun: Taiwan has problems purchasing weapons from the United States
Due to problems with the adoption of the military budget, Taiwan has not yet been able to receive financing for the purchase of HIMARS systems, the local Ministry of Defense told Izvestia. At the same time, the militarization of the island and its close ties with the United States clearly do not suit China, which is conducting exercises closer to it. According to experts, Beijing uses several levers of pressure on Taipei to achieve unification. At the same time, while the Taiwanese opposition is blocking part of military spending, the head of the Kuomintang, Zheng Liwen, visited mainland China for the first time in 10 years at the invitation of Xi Jinping. About the disagreements on the island and the risks of escalation — in the material of Izvestia.
What prevents military-technical cooperation between Taiwan and the United States
Taiwan, the formal administrative unit of the PRC, faced the problem of purchasing weapons this spring. In early March, Washington confirmed its willingness to sell HIMARS and other systems to him, but Taipei failed to finalize the deal quickly. In these circumstances, Senator Jim Banks publicly called on the Taiwanese parliament to unblock the suspended special defense plan.
— I believe you've already heard about our budget impasse on defense spending. The United States has agreed to extend the deadline for us to sign the LOA, the "Letter of Acceptance" (regarding the purchase of HIMARS. — Ed.). We will sign the LOA when we receive budget funding," the island's defense ministry told Izvestia.
The political impasse was particularly pronounced in parliament: in March, he had to urgently allow the government to sign four American agreements worth about $ 9 billion so that Taiwan would not fall out of the production queue. At the same time, the opposition generally supports strengthening defense, but does not intend to sign "blank checks."
The essence of the conflict lies in the dispute over the special defense budget, which the Lai Qingde administration has been promoting since November 2025. Then the head of Taiwan announced an additional $40 billion package for 2026-2033. At the same time, Taiwan has already raised conventional military spending: the budget for 2026 has been increased to $30.4 billion, that is, to 3.32% of GDP - for the first time above 3% since 2009. But the opposition, which has a majority in parliament, has put the brakes on the special package and put forward a cheaper alternative.: about 30% of the government's request, with a ceiling of up to $12.2 billion and a deadline until the end of 2028. Defense Minister Wellington Gu bluntly stated that such a scheme makes some of the projects impossible and threatens to "break" the overall line of containment of China.
The nervousness in Taiwan's parliament and government departments is understandable. Since about the end of the 1990s, the island has actually been able to purchase weapons from only one country, the United States, Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, told Izvestia. As China's foreign policy influence grew, all other suppliers gradually fell away.
— Taiwan has its own fairly powerful military-industrial complex, but the island's capabilities are still limited by the scale of its economy. With a population of about 25 million people, Taipei cannot independently produce the full range of necessary weapons and military equipment. It produces air defense systems, cruise missiles, drones and a number of other weapons, but the dependence on supplies from the United States remains very high," he said.
Over the past two decades, we have seen changes — arms sales are increasing, and more and more advanced products are being sold to Taiwan, said Yana Leksyutina, Professor of Chinese Studies at St. Petersburg State University. Moreover, if we talk about US President Donald Trump, he is objectively interested in increasing such supplies.
"This meets both the interests of American arms manufacturers and its approach to Taiwan: the island, according to this logic, should not rely primarily on direct US protection in the event of a hypothetical conflict with China, but is obliged to independently increase its defense capability through purchases of American weapons," the expert said.
Visit of the head of the Kuomintang to China
It is here that the internal split on the island on the issue of relations with China is fully manifested. While the Kuomintang traditionally advocates reducing tensions and expanding dialogue with the mainland, the Democratic Progressive Party in power is much more wary of the prospect of rapprochement and relies on strengthening defense with the support of the United States.
At the same time, the current chairman of the Kuomintang, Zheng Liwen, is on an official visit to China from April 7 to 12. This is the party leader's first trip to the mainland in 10 years, despite the fact that the invitation was sent on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In Taipei, this move irritated the ruling party.: They considered that the visit was taking place at a time when parliament was discussing defense decisions that were critically important for the island.
Beijing, for its part, consistently calls Taiwan's rearmament with the support of the United States a direct interference in the internal affairs of China, undermining its sovereignty and security, as well as a dangerous signal to supporters of the island's independence. The Chinese Foreign Ministry emphasizes that pumping Taiwan with weapons does not strengthen stability in the strait, but, on the contrary, pushes the situation to further escalation and increases the risk of confrontation. Therefore, in Beijing's logic, the current military rapprochement between Taipei and Washington itself becomes a reason to increase pressure on the island.
As Kashin noted, by visiting China, the Kuomintang is trying to emphasize that it does not advocate capitulation to Beijing, but a more pragmatic course with an emphasis on dialogue and Taiwan's economic interests. In these circumstances, the opposition is trying to present the ruling Democratic Progressive Party as a force leading the island to further confrontation with China through accelerated rearmament.
China is getting closer to Taiwan
However, by itself, the Kuomintang's attempt to soften the atmosphere around the island does not relieve tension. On April 9, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense reported that six aircraft and eight Chinese ships had been spotted around the island over the previous day. Zheng Liwen's visit to the mainland did not even lead to a temporary decrease in PLA activity, and the ruling party is already using this as an argument against the Kuomintang's line of dialogue without strengthening defense at the same time.
The military exercises are designed to deter both Taiwan and the United States, Kashin stressed. Tensions have been high since August 2022, when Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, arrived in Taiwan, contrary to Beijing's warnings. Additionally, the situation worsened after Lai Qingde became the head of Taiwan.
— Lai Qingde is a tougher politician, he made a number of harsh statements that caused strong dissatisfaction with Beijing. There are very sensitive moments in the issue of the island's status and history, and now, as soon as Lai Qingde makes any careless attack, China responds with large-scale military exercises," the expert stressed.
A "protection review" published by Taiwan's Ministry of Defense claims that Chinese aircraft and ships are already crossing the middle line of the strait and approaching the island at a distance of 24 nautical miles. For example, in April 2025, the PLA conducted two-day exercises off the northern, southern and eastern coasts of Taiwan. At that time, according to Taipei, at least 71 aircraft and 13 ships were involved, and more than 10 Chinese warships came close to the 24-mile zone of the island.
In Beijing, such measures are not called preparations for war, but a "necessary and legitimate" response to the actions of supporters of the island's independence and to external interference, primarily from the United States. According to the PRC, such maneuvers serve as a warning to Taipei and at the same time should stop its further military and political rapprochement with Washington.
So far, China has maintained its policy of resolving the Taiwan issue through a combination of economic, political and military pressure, Kashin stressed. The show of force, he said, plays a role in China's strategy, but Beijing's main goal is to avoid a real war. At the same time, as Lexyutina noted, in Taiwan itself there is no public demand for either armed conflict or severe shocks. According to a number of opinion polls, the majority of the island's residents are interested in maintaining the status quo, while there are very few supporters of immediate unification with mainland China.
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