The Legislative Yuan is to send the Executive Yuan’s version of the special defense budget to its plenary session on Friday next week, after a cross-party consensus was reached today.
The parties concluded that the Cabinet’s version is to be reviewed alongside the Taiwan People Party’s (TPP) version in the Foreign and National Defense and Finance committees.
Other proposals should be proposed before Thursday next week, they added.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Lawmakers also agreed not to file a motion of reconsideration.
President William Lai (賴清德) in November last year announced a NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.76 billion) special defense budget to be allocated over eight years, including arms purchases from the US.
Opposition lawmakers have refused to deliberate the proposal, citing a lack of clarity on the proposal.
The TPP last month submitted its own version that would allocate NT$400 billion for certain weapons systems, while the KMT has also said it would propose a version.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a legislative meeting, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) today said that letters of offer and acceptance (LOA) from the US for three major arms purchases are set to expire on March 15.
The potential purchases include tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missiles; Javelin anti-armor missiles; and M109A7 self-propelled howitzers.
Given that budget allocations might not be completed in time, Koo urged the committees to authorize the ministry to sign the LOAs with the US before the budget is formally approved to prevent delays or the potential cancelation of the procurement.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday said the Democratic Progressive Party bears the greatest responsibility for delays in arms purchases, accusing the party of failing to share details of the deals or US tariff negotiations with the legislature.
The KMT would take the initiative to secure reasonable and necessary arms purchases with its own version of the bill, she said, adding that the party hopes to communicate with the US.
Before delivering a policy address at the legislature today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told reporters that it would be inappropriate for opposition parties to take the lead on the matter, which should be handled by the Ministry of National Defense and the Executive Yuan.
However, he said he welcomes parties taking a step forward hand-in-hand with the government.
The special budget should incorporate items that safeguard national security and defense autonomy, drive local industrial growth and cater to the needs of the national defense industry, he said.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS