The NT$19.65 billion (US$601.5 million) budget for continued development of the Hai Kun (海鯤) indigenous submarine project yesterday passed the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in a 6 to 5 vote.
Opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers have threatened to gut the budget proposal, citing delays in the project.
KMT legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and Huang Jen (黃仁) proposed slashing the budget for phase 3 of subsequent ships in the Narwhal production line.
Photo: Taipei Times
Meanwhile, KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hisn (許巧芯) proposed cutting NT$17.96 billion from the funding request, while the TPP’s Lin Yi-chun (林憶君) proposed freezing half of the NT$19.56 billion budgeted for facilities and equipment for the project.
Further talks yesterday afternoon about the budget proved unfruitful, and Hsu proposed that the committee’s convener, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇), hold a vote and forward any issues that failed to achieve consensus for cross-caucus negotiations.
Wang read out the drafted resolution, which stated that the committee would vote on whether the Ministry of National Defense would receive an allotted NT$19.56 billion for the project during the next fiscal year, with an additional clause that the funds would only be made available after the prototype completed sea trials.
The Hai Kun was unveiled in Kaohsiung in September last year and has completed about 80 percent of its harbor acceptance tests.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, sea acceptance tests are expected to begin in April next year and conclude by October, before the delivery deadline in November.
Wang, as convener, cast the tie-breaking vote to approve the funding.
The DPP supported the budget proposal, arguing that building indigenous submarines as soon as possible is crucial for national defense in the face of a potential Chinese invasion.
Separately, Wang announced that the committee had completed the review of all budgetary items from the defense ministry for next fiscal year and that all files would be forwarded to the Finance Committee, which would compile them into a full report for the legislature’s review.
Aside from the army’s attack drone missile system and phase 3 of the submarine program, no other ministry-related budget item needed to be referred for cross-caucus negotiations, Wang said.
The Hai Kun is expected to be the first of seven new attack submarines.
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