By Ben Blanchard
TAIPEI, June 6 (Reuters) - Taiwan needs to "spend smarter" on its defences and learn lessons from the Ukraine and Middle East wars on using drones to ensure the military balance with China, the de facto U.S. ambassador to Taipei said on Saturday.
While Taiwan's government has prioritised drones and other asymmetric systems for its military modernisation programme, the opposition-dominated parliament last month passed only two-thirds of the $40 billion in extra defence spending President Lai Ching-te had asked for.
The government is now trying to get the cut funds, which were for domestically made systems like drones and missiles, approved, to better deter China which views the democratically governed island as its own territory.
The U.S. has strongly backed Lai's defence spending plans.
Speaking at a forum in Taipei, Raymond Greene, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, said the U.S. looks forward to further investments.
"It is critical that Taiwan not only spend more on its own defence but also spend smarter. And there is no smarter way Taiwan can deliver deterrence right away than by investing in unmanned systems," he said.
"The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have demonstrated that drones are changing the character of warfare, offering enormous opportunities for Taiwan to re-establish the cross-Strait military balance."
U.S. ARMS SALES
The U.S. has traditionally been Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties.
But U.S. President Donald Trump has rattled Taiwan after his meeting with China's Xi Jinping in Beijing last month, saying that he is still considering whether to go ahead with a new arms sales package for Taipei worth some $14 billion.
The U.S., which is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, has said its policy towards the island has not changed, something Greene underscored.
"Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is absolutely critical for the economic well-being of the United States, Taiwan, and the entire world," he said.
"The United States has made clear that we oppose any forced, compelled, or coercive change to the status of Taiwan."
Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claim, saying only the island's people can decide their future.
Shen Yu-chung, a deputy minister at Taiwan's China-policymaking Mainland Affairs Council, said at a separate event on Saturday that "peace does not mean lying flat" and Taiwan must rely on deterrence through strength.
Taiwan firmly opposes any attempt to change the status quo by force, he added.
"This is not only a defence of Taiwan's national sovereignty, but also a protection of the common interests of the Indo-Pacific region and democracies around the world."
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kim Coghill)
