THE SPECIAL BUDGET “IS IMPORTANT”, CURTIS SAYS “I’d like to personally endorse the special defence budget and tell you back in Washington, DC, that my colleagues are watching, that this is important,” he said. “We want to make sure that as we invest in this part of the world, that you are also investing and that we’re in this together.” Taiwan’s opposition-dominated parliament is still debating Lai’s defence spending proposal, though it has already cleared four US arms deals worth about US$9 billion. The United States has strongly supported Lai’s efforts to boost Taiwan’s armaments as part of a push by President Donald Trump’s administration to get allies to spend more on defence. CONCERN OVER CHINA PRESSURE “We are concerned by the increased pressure from Beijing, including military activity around Taiwan that raises the risk of miscalculation,” Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told the same briefing. Deputy Minister Hsu Szu-chien, speaking later at government-run weapons developer the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology in Taoyuan, said he hoped …