The long-stalled budget for the partial funding of a US arms procurement deal passed the legislature yesterday, about six years after the weapons sale was approved by the Bush administration in April 2001.
The funding was sourced from the defense ministry's annual budget included in the Cabinet's total budget request for the current fiscal year, which also cleared the legislature yesterday.
On the last day before the legislature adjourned for its summer recess yesterday, lawmakers finally finished their review of the central government's budget bill, more than half a year behind the deadline set by the Budget Act (
The arms package offered by the US includes 12 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, eight diesel-electric submarines and six PAC-3 anti-missile batteries.
The government's proposal to buy the three major weapons systems for NT$610.8 billion (US$18.5 billion) was sent to the legislature for review in June 2004 in the form of a special budget, but had been blocked by the pan-blues ever since.
The pan-blue camp argued that the price was too high and insisted that the package had to be included in the annual military budget rather than a special budget.
After a series of revisions, the arms proposal took the form of a NT$6.2 billion supplemental budget for fiscal 2006 and a NT$54.7 billion annual budget item for fiscal 2007.
The NT$6.2 billion supplementary budget is still stalled in the legislature, while the NT$54.7 billion allocation from the annual budget was cut to NT$25.7 billion yesterday.
Part of the budget passed yesterday would fund an upgrade plan for PAC-2 Patriot Missile Batteries and the purchase of P-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
Meanwhile, the budget to assess the feasibility of the submarine purchase was slashed from NT$4.537 billion to NT$200 million, while that for buying F16 C-D fighters was passed but frozen.
The legislature demanded that the defense ministry brief the legislature on the US proposal to sell Taiwan the F16 fighters by the end of October.
The People First Party (PFP) legislative caucus proposed a motion to cut all funding for the three weapons systems, but the motion failed in the absence of support from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Lawmakers slashed the government's annual revenue budget by NT$24.63 billion from NT$1.51 trillion, and reduced the budget for government expenses by NT$34.41 billion from NT$1.66 trillion.
The budget bill was referred to the legislature last September, but the Cabinet was unable to pass it because of a controversial bill the KMT had proposed to restructure the Central Election Commission (CEC).
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has criticized the KMT for holding up the budget bill in a bid to get the DPP to agree to the KMT's CEC proposal, which would give the pan-blue camp the majority of seats.
The Budget Act states that the legislature should complete its review of the central government budget bill one month before the start of the fiscal year.
The KMT caucus only agreed to decouple the CEC bill from the budget after KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
After failing to have its CEC proposal passed in the current legislative session, the pan-blue camp yesterday voted to pass a resolution to freeze one-quarter of the budget earmarked for the CEC, excluding its personnel costs.
The resolution says the budget will not be released until a bill to legalize the commission has been enacted and members selected.
KMT legislative caucus whip Tseng Yung-chuan (
The DPP is considering calling for an extra session to screen two government budget requests that remain stalled: the NT$3.3 trillion budget for state-owned enterprises and governmental non-profit funds and the NT$77.3 billion budget for public construction projects.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique