Recently passed amendments to a fiscal planning law could reduce the defense budget by 28 percent, undermining the nation’s military readiness and international support for Taiwan, National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday.
Wu, along with Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) and Academia Sinica researcher Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), were among those who spoke at a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee about the budget.
If promulgated, amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) would result in a NT$375.3 billion (US$11.49 billion) reduction of the central government’s budget, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.
Photo: CNA
Other countries in the first island chain have increased their defense spending, such as South Korea, which increased its defense budget by 4.5 percent, while Japan increased its by 16 percent, Wu said.
However, the budget of Taiwan, the nation under the most pressure from China, might be reduced by nearly 30 percent, which would affect military readiness and equipment maintenance, he said.
As other countries evaluate Taiwan’s resolve to defend itself based on the defense budget, cutting it significantly would send the wrong message, suggesting that it has no intention of defending itself, he said.
In that case, no like-minded countries would help Taiwan, he added.
On Dec. 9, foreign media quoted high-level Taiwanese defense officials as saying that China had deployed 90 vessels to the East and South China seas surrounding Taiwan, Wu said.
The reports were confirmed, showing that China had launched large-scale naval training exercises, which demonstrate its ability to mobilize in adverse conditions and simultaneously threaten all nations within the first island chain, meaning that Taiwan must be careful, he said.
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
Academics have expressed mixed views on President William Lai’s (賴清德) nomination of High Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Tsai Chiu-ming (蔡秋明) as a Constitutional Court justice and the head of the nation’s top judicial body. While prosecutors have served as justices at the Constitutional Court over the years, including Judy Ju (朱富美), an incumbent, the appointment of a prosecutor as president of the Judicial Yuan, which presides over the Constitutional Court, would be unprecedented. Retired law professor Lin Teng-yao (林騰鷂) said that Tsai’s nomination was an “abuse” of power by Lai, and called on the legislature, in which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
RSS