The Legislative Yuan on Friday held another cross-party caucus negotiation on a special act for bolstering national defense that the Executive Yuan had proposed last year. The party caucuses failed to reach a consensus on several key provisions, so the next session is scheduled for today, where many believe substantial progress would finally be made.
The plan for an eight-year NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.59 billion) special defense budget was first proposed by the Cabinet in November last year, but the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers have continuously blocked it from being listed on the agenda for review, citing concerns that they did not know the details and refused to “sign a blank check.”
After US lawmakers sent letters to Taiwanese politicians, particularly Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), expressing concern over the stalled budget and polls showing majority public support for its passage, it was finally listed on the agenda in late February for review early last month. However, debates at the legislature’s joint Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee as well as the Finance Committee failed to reach consensus on most of the critical provisions, so the budget entered a one-month “freeze” cross-party consultation period from March 27.
The Foreign and National Defense Committee convener, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), had called for a negotiation on April 9, but it failed because all KMT lawmakers were absent, sparking speculation that the KMT caucus was awaiting instructions after Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing the next day.
Another cross-party caucus negotiation was called by Han on Apr. 15, but, again, no consensus was reached on the special defense budget bill, so Chen was instructed to arrange a report by the Ministry of National Defense on Monday last week at the committee to address lawmakers’ concerns, as Han arranged the next negotiation session.
However, while KMT lawmakers have persistently blamed the defense ministry for keeping details of the budget “confidential,” they again were all absent except for KMT Legislator Chen Yeong-kang (陳永康), a retired admiral, from Monday’s report meeting, showing little willingness to examine the proposal in detail.
Finally, on Friday, the cross-party caucus negotiation reached a consensus on basic administrative provisions, including the name of the special act, but remained divided over the most critical provisions, such as procurement items and the total budget ceiling.
Regarding procurement, the MND listed seven categories, including equipment and systems jointly developed or procured by the US and Taiwan, but the KMT intends to limit them to certain US items. Consequently, the opposition refused to approve the NT$1.25 trillion ceiling, but did not present alternative figures. The KMT and TPP caucuses previously proposed NT$380 billion and NT$400 billion, respectively, and now say the total could increase if the US formally offers a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for specific items.
Many believe today’s meeting would bring substantial progress, as it is the final day of the “freeze” period and, if no consensus is reached, the bill could proceed to a plenary vote, where the KMT and TPP would most likely get their way.
However, the KMT’s bottom line remains unclear, as it continues to advance contradictory claims — including Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and several lawmakers supporting a budget between NT$800 billion and NT$1 trillion, while its caucus promotes “NT$380 billion + N” but lists only NT$380 billion in its bill; and its Central Standing Committee claiming to “fully support national defense and procurement” and “practice rational oversight” while lawmakers repeatedly skip meetings and effectively stall decisions.
Moreover, the KMT’s insistence on replacing “Chinese military threat” with “responding to enemy threats,” avoiding explicit reference to Taiwan’s long-standing coercion from China, has raised concerns that its stalling tactics could benefit Beijing.
The decisions made in today’s cross-party caucus negotiation would be crucial for strengthening Taiwan’s defense resilience and asymmetric combat capability to deter China in the coming years. It remains up to opposition lawmakers to decide whether they truly intend to protect Taiwan, or continue invoking “rational supervision” while China accelerates preparations to annex it.
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