Opposition lawmakers yesterday blocked a bill authorizing a special defense budget of NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.8 billion) from being placed on the agenda for Friday’s Legislative Yuan plenary session as they urged President William Lai (賴清德) to appear before the legislature and answer questions about the proposed budget first.
Lai on Wednesday last week announced the NT$1.25 trillion supplementary budget to underscore the nation’s determination to defend itself, saying that China’s goal is to “prepare for the military unification with Taiwan by 2027.”
The Executive Yuan on Thursday last week passed the draft act for the NT$1.25 trillion in government spending for major weapons purchases over eight years, from next year to 2033.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
During a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee yesterday, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed postponing consideration of the bill, a move that was supported by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) said the KMT caucus fully supports national defense and military procurement to protect the nation, and defend free and democratic Taiwan, but the Ministry of National Defense had not explicitly stated that the Chinese Communist Party would have the capability to take Taiwan by force by 2027 in any of its defense budgets across the past three fiscal years, including this fiscal year.
Lai had neither briefed the legislature nor informed the public, but made the announcement through an op-ed in an international newspaper, Fu said.
The government has not stated what equipment or platforms are being purchased before attempting to ram a draft defense budget through the Procedure Committee, he said, adding that this was akin to demanding a blank check while the public remains in the dark.
The president must appear before the legislature to clarify the defense budget to the public before a decision can be made, he said.
TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that the public absolutely supports measures to increase the nation’s self-defense capabilities, but with budgets running to more than NT$1 trillion and the lackluster results of defense procurements, Lai must provide guarantees that the special budget would translate into a direct increase in Taiwan’s combat readiness.
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to legitimize its demands to boost the defense budget, while smearing the opposition’s right to oversight, as well as allowing the president to “threaten” the public with the imminent subjugation of the country, are the greatest dangers facing Taiwan, he added.
Huang agreed that the president should appear before the legislature and the TPP wished to ask the president many questions, as it had received only two A4 pages of information on the proposed budget.
Meanwhile, DPP lawmakers went to the committee meeting armed with protest placards.
DPP caucus secretary-general Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) said the opposition parties must make known to the public why they are blocking the special defense budget.
The president has made it very clear that his appearance at the legislature is open for discussion as long as the process is in line with standing regulations and procedures, Chen said, but the opposition parties were unwilling to discuss the issue in detail.
DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said the opposition’s demands were an excuse to hide behind their true intention to oppose the defense budget.
DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) said that Lai was willing to brief the legislature, but the opposition’s insistence that each legislator be allowed to question the president is unconstitutional.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS