Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers yesterday agreed to deliberate on Friday the government’s military budget.
The move came following negotiations with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and might signal that the KMT-TPP alliance could pass President William Lai’s (賴清德) eight-year defense budget.
A memo from the KMT-run National Policy Foundation showed that the party is leaning on lawmakers to back a separate bill that would earmark NT$350 billion (US$11.07 billion) for defense procurements, with “punitive articles” for delays, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported on Friday last week.
Photo: Taipei Times
However, the response from KMT politicians suggests a rift between the party leadership and its rank-and-file, with some saying that NT$350 billion would not be enough for the armed forces.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) previously told KMT lawmakers that the US has expressed a preference for Taiwan to pass a NT$900 billion defense budget.
Former foundation executive Ling Tao (凌濤) wrote on Facebook yesterday that the nation needs NT$900 billion to pay for the equipment necessary for defense.
KMT Legislator Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) on Monday said that KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) and several others support an NT$810 billion allocation instead of the leadership’s smaller proposal.
However, KMT Legislator Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐) backed the leadership’s proposal, saying that military spending should not involve “performative patriotism.”
The clashing visions would have to be resolved in the legislature, as only lawmakers, not party functionaries, have the authority to propose a budget to challenge the government’s bill.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday criticized the KMT leadership’s proposal, saying that the Cabinet’s NT$1.25 trillion bill is an integrated package without superfluous elements for bargaining.
The planned “T-Dome” air defense program, artificial intelligence boosted kill chains and an improved domestic defense industry cannot be achieved without the allocation, he said.
The KMT leadership’s “punitive articles” would harm national security, Cho said.
KMT Culture and Communication Committee deputy director Yin Nai-ching (尹乃菁) on Monday said the “punitive articles” would not be in the party’s bill, but proposed as separate legislation.
The KMT’s shift in policy came after 37 US congressional members in a joint statement on Feb. 12 called on the legislature to approve the defense budget.
When the Legislative Yuan convened on Tuesday last week, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) authorized inter-party negotiations on military spending and scheduled the Cabinet’s presentation on defense for Friday.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS