Taiwan's parliament on Friday approved a $25 billion defense spending bill that opposition lawmakers say will be used for US weapons, following months of political wrangling.
The result was announced by the parliamentary speaker after a final vote on the bill, which falls well short of the government's proposed budget of nearly $40 billion.
Taiwanese lawmakers have been at loggerheads over how much to spend on improving defense capabilities against a potential attack by China, which claims the island is part of its territory and has threatened to forcibly seize it.
The Kuomintang (KMT), which is Taiwan's biggest opposition party and favors closer ties with China, as well as the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), announced Friday they would be willing to raise their defense spending proposal to NT$780 billion (nearly $25 billion) for US arms only.
The KMT and the TPP control Taiwan's 113-seat parliament. Only 107 lawmakers were present for the vote, which passed with 59 in favor, AFP reported.
President Lai Ching-te's government has proposed spending NT$1.25 trillion on defense purchases, including US arms as well as Taiwan-made drones and other weapons.
The special funds would be spread out over eight years and would be in addition to normal defense spending that is included in the government's annual budget.
Months of fighting have left the KMT deeply divided, with the party's chairperson Cheng Li-wun -- who has drawn criticism from inside and outside the KMT for being too pro-China -- pushing for the allocation of NT$380 billion for US weapons, with the option for more acquisitions.
As pressure from the United States -- Taiwan's most important security backer -- mounted, however, senior KMT lawmakers demanded a much higher budget than the one initially proposed by the party.
Taiwan's parliament previously gave the government a green light to sign US agreements for four weapons deals, even though funding for these and other arms had not yet been approved.
The weapons -- M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, Javelin anti-armor missiles, TOW 2B missiles and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) -- account for nearly $9 billion of the $11.1 billion arms package announced by Washington in December.
The KMT was "willing to fully support" a second phase of arms sales worth more than $15 billion that the defense ministry has told lawmakers would include "Patriot missiles, Hellfire (missiles), and related counter-drone defense systems", party caucus leader Fu Kun-chi told a press conference before the vote.
The vote comes days before US President Donald Trump is due to arrive in Beijing for a summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, who has warned the US against sending more weapons to Taiwan.
Cheng recently went to China, where she met with Xi, and she has expressed hopes to travel to the United States in June.
