When the Taiwan legislature recently refused a large defense spending increase of $40 billion in favor of a much smaller allocation of $12 billion, many in Washington were surprised and dismayed.

They should not be. Political gridlock in Taipei over defense shows there are very real fissures on the island. It illustrates an evident understanding among some in Taiwan that political accommodation with China is preferable to armed confrontation.

The United States has consistently pressured the Taiwanese government to spend more on its own defense. Elbridge Colby, now the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for policy, argued emphatically a couple of years ago that “Taiwan has to do its part to make it plausibly worthwhile for America. Right now that’s not happening.”

U.S. officials in Taiwan have also expressed concern over the recent defense spending stalemate in Taipei while U.S. senators have registered their disappointment.