Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that Taiwan-U.S. relationship rests on a foundation of institutional ties built over many years and expressed confidence that the United States will continue arms sales to Taiwan. That came during an interview Lin gave to BBC World Service’s program Newshour, published on Thursday, August 13.

BBC anchor Rebecca Kesby asked Lin about Taiwan’s confidence in the United States from various angles, including the effect of the Middle East conflict on U.S. arms stockpiles and arms sales to Taiwan, U.S. military deployment in the Indo-Pacific, and the country’s willingness and capacity to intervene in a Taiwan Strait emergency.

Lin said that President Donald Trump’s administration approved a major arms sale package to Taiwan worth US$11 billion last year. However, U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio has publicly said that a separate package worth US$14 billion remains under review. Lin emphasized that “under review” does not mean “suspended,” and that Taiwan remains “confident on delivery and continuity.”

Lin also commented on U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s statement at May’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that the United States would no longer subsidize the defense of wealthy nations. Lin said that the issue is “burden sharing,” and that Taiwan has already increased its defense budget to over 3 percent of GDP and plans to raise it to 5 percent by 2030 to effectively deter a Chinese invasion.