The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday slammed former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) comments that the government was squandering money on national defense, saying he has embarrassed himself by ignoring China’s rapidly expanding armed forces and military threat against Taiwan.
During a speech on Sunday at an event in Bangkok, Ma said the government had taken on a heavy burden by allocating large sums of money for military expenditure, notably to buy US-made weapons, as payment for “protection,” as former US president Donald Trump has said.
“Money-pit bills” to buy arms would ruin public finances and only benefit the US defense industry, he said.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
At a news conference in Taipei yesterday, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that “portions of the government’s fiscal budget are for military spending to protect our country.”
“We actively engage in arms procurement from other countries to bolster our national defense, as well as to support indigenous weapons production,” she said.
“So what is wrong with building up national defense to safeguard our own country? Many countries around the world have higher military budgets than Taiwan? Are all their defense expenditures ‘money pits’?” she asked.
Ma has embarrassed himself on the world stage by calling military spending as squandering money, DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said.
“During Ma’s eight years as president, the government budget for national defense totaled more than NT$300 billion [US$9.19 billion at the current exchange rate]. It was not much, but he did allocate a budget,” Wang said.
China in March approved a national defense budget of more than 1.665 trillion yuan (US$234.35 billion), a 7.2 percent increase from last year, Wang added.
“We are the one under hostile intimidation by China, but Ma says Taiwan spending on the military is squandering money. Ma chooses to grovel and kowtow to China, while Beijing expands its budget to escalate its military threat against Taiwan,” he said.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Lin Yi-chun (林憶君) yesterday also criticized Ma’s comments.
“Allocating a budget for national defense depends on the military threat against Taiwan, and the amount should be adjusted as needed,” she said.
Taiwan faces more intense hostility from China compared with when Ma was in office, she said.
“Taiwan must invest in national defense, which has nothing to do with Trump’s talk about ‘paying for protection,’ nor Ma’s talk of ‘money-pit bills.’ It is necessary to allocate a budget to build up a more effective deterrent against hostile military threats from abroad,” she said.
The government must carefully plan the national defense budget to enhance Taiwan’s deterrence, while engaging in dialogue with China to reduce hostilities. This is the best way for Taiwan to achieve long-term peace and security,” Lin said.
Additional reporting by Lin Che-yuan
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS