US disappointed in Taiwan's smaller defense budget, official says


WASHINGTON/BEIJING, May ⁠11 (Reuters) - The U.S. was disappointed ⁠in a move by Taiwan's ‌opposition-controlled parliament to approve defense spending short of what Washington believes is ​needed, a senior U.S. ⁠official said on ⁠Sunday.

"Our position on Taiwan's defense budget ...is ⁠that ‌it was disappointing in that there was ⁠some stuff left on the cutting ​room ‌floor that we believe still ⁠needs to ​be funded," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"We'd like ⁠to see the rest ​of the original proposed package funded."

Taiwan's parliament approvedextra defense spending of $25 ⁠billion on Friday, about two-thirds of the amount sought by the government to bolster the armed ​forces in the ⁠face of a rapidly modernizing ​Chinese military.

(Reporting by ‌Nandita Bose in Washington ​and Trevor Hunnicutt in Beijing; Editing by Paul Simao)

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