A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget.
The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033.
However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget.
Photo: Screen grab from Newsham’s X account
On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan’s People Party, as well as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip, expressing concern about the legislature stalling proposed defense spending.
The letter urged “Taiwan to pass the full special defense budget,” as “the threat posed by Communist China against Taiwan has never been greater,” US Senator Pete Ricketts, who led the letter, wrote on X.
US Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who also signed the letter, posted it on X, writing; “I stand with my colleagues in Congress urging the Legislative Yuan to back President Lai and fund his FULL defense budget proposal.”
Grant Newsham, a retired US Marine Corps officer who currently serves as senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, on Saturday shared Luna’s X post, adding that they should also ask the US Department of State to cancel US visas and green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers.
“This congressional support is important. But too many KMT / TPP politicians are pro-PRC. More effective ... cancel USA visas and green cards of KMT/TPP politicians’ relatives,” Newsham said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Newsham previously testified before the US Congress and has decades of experience in the Indo-Pacific region, having served as an intelligence officer in the Marine Forces Pacific and helping Japan establish its amphibious forces, US congressional documents show.
He has long been involved in US military strategy in the Indo-Pacific region and his 2023 book When China Attacks: A Warning to America made the Amazon bestseller list.
In response to the joint letter by the US lawmakers, Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) on Friday said that the US expects Taiwan to fulfill its self-defense obligations.
KMT spokesman Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) at the time said his party would respond to US concerns, but would not compromise on overseeing the budget.
The TPP caucus said that defense spending is highly sensitive, and it is not exempt from oversight and accountability.
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