The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is requesting to cut 3.47 percent, or NT$111.1 billion (US$3.37 billion), from this year’s central government budget, KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said today.
The budget for next year is under review in the Legislative Yuan.
The Executive Yuan submitted a finalized budget proposal and sent it to the legislature for review in August last year, which forecast annual revenue of NT$3.15 trillion and expenses of NT$3.13 trillion, for a surplus of NT$20.9 billion.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The forecasted revenue and expenses are not only an all-time high, but much of the budget is inflated, Fu told a news conference attended by all KMT legislators in front of the Legislative Yuan.
The KMT's proposal is in line with budget cuts of previous years and is not excessive, he added.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) earlier told lawmakers that NT$200 million is needed in this year’s defense budget for submarines, which are critical to national defense efforts.
Fu said that the KMT proposal would support the national defense budget, but freeze any inflated portions, meaning they would be placed under close review, but not entirely cut.
In response to suggested cuts to Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) requested supplementary budget of NT$100 billion, Fu said that each year, Taipower subsidies come from the pockets of hardworking taxpayers in a flawed policy to cover up corruption within factions of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The KMT would not agree to the DPP continuing to take money from the public, he said, calling on the ruling party to instead adjust its energy policies to stop corruption.
Promotional budgets and operational costs of all governmental departments must also be carefully reviewed to prevent misuse of funds to hire Internet trolls, he added.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS