The Legislative Yuan today approved a motion authorizing the Executive Yuan to sign letters of acceptance (LOA) for four US arms procurement projects before they expire, as a months-long debate continues in the legislature over the special defense budget.
The motion would allow the government to sign the LOAs before the legislature completes its review of the defense budget, to ensure Taiwan does not lose its place in the production and delivery line.
The weapons include tube-launched optically tracked wire command link guided anti-tank missiles, M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, Lockheed Martin Javelin missiles and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).
Photo: AFP
Three of the LOAs are set to expire on Sunday, while the HIMARS letter is to be signed by March 26. An LOA is a binding document confirming that a foreign government has agreed to buy US military equipment under a regulated US government program, and gives the US government the authority to contract with US weapons makers to acquire the systems.
They are part of an US$11.1 billion arms package announced by the US in December.
President William Lai (賴清德) in November proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.25 billion) in extra defense budget spending over the next eight years, but the opposition parties, who hold the legislative majority, have pushed back and submitted reduced budget proposals.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) had urged legislators to authorize the government to first sign the expiring LOAs.
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on Friday last week proposed that if budget deliberations are not complete before the contract deadlines, the Cabinet would be authorized to sign the LOAs with the US first.
National interests take precedence over party interests, the TPP said.
The proposal reached a caucus consensus and was sent directly to the second reading and referred for cross-party negotiations with the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
The consultations were held yesterday and lawmakers agreed to expand the scope of the original three arms purchase LOAs to also include the HIMARS system that the Ministry of National Defense had received from the US on Friday last week.
The motion was passed this morning in a second reading at the legislature.
The Cabinet must immediately submit a full report to the Legislative Yuan upon signing the agreements, detailing the weapons delivery schedule, the motion says.
The US has an US$8.28 billion backlog of arms yet to be delivered to Taiwan.
The Cabinet must return to normal budget review procedures and must not use national security as a reason to circumvent democratic review and rational oversight, the motion says.
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