Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) yesterday urged for the swift review of the special defense budget before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit to China.
Cheng on Monday said she has accepted Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) invitation to visit China from Tuesday next week until April 12.
Kuo yesterday said Cheng’s KMT — which together with the Taiwan People’s Party hold a majority in the legislature — should pass the special defense budget needed to counter the continued military threat from China instead of visiting the country.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
The failure to pass the general budget is exacerbating the economic risks stemming from energy shortages and soaring cost of living due to the conflict in the Middle East, she added.
The government’s plans to stabilize the economy cannot be enacted without the legislature’s approval, which is yet to happen more than 220 days after the Cabinet introduced this year’s general budget, Kuo said.
The Presidential Office expresses its appreciation for Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) good-faith attempt to push the legislative process along in accordance with the constitutional duty that comes with his position, Kuo said.
Commenting on Cheng’s visit, Kuo said the Presidential Office’s long-standing position is that Taiwan is open to healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges under the conditions of dignity, equality and no political prerequisites.
However, Beijing has continued to target Taiwan with a campaign of military and diplomatic pressure, she said, adding that cross-strait stability hinges on China’s willingness to respect the right of Taiwanese to decide their destiny.
The KMT should accept that 84 percent of Taiwanese approve of maintaining the “status quo” and 62 percent want the government’s arms procurement budget to be passed, she said.
Separately, Taiwan Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) yesterday called on Cheng to refrain from commenting on Taiwan’s defense procurement or domestic policy in her conversations with Chinese officials.
Citing the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), he said that engaging in political lobbying in matters touching on domestic policy, national defense and security, or state secrets is punishable by up to three years in prison, in addition to a NT$5 million (US$156,386) fine.
This means Cheng may not relay the opinions of Xi or Chinese officials to KMT politicians for the purpose of directing the party’s policy stance in the legislature or anywhere else in the government, he said.
KMT lawmakers who support policies that originate from Beijing are in the same legal jeopardy as Cheng, Lai said.
Meanwhile, the Legislative Yuan Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee has completed the initial review of the special national defense budget bill, and all provisions are reserved for cross-party negotiations, with a cross-caucus negotiation originally scheduled for next Thursday.
However, the KMT caucus on Thursday sent a letter requesting that the negotiations be postponed to April 15 or 16, prompting critics to speculate the change in the negotiation date is due to the sensitive timing of a potential Cheng-Xi meeting.
When asked, Cheng yesterday said she fully respects the party caucus’ power to make decisions about the budget and accused the Democratic Progressive Party of smearing her by connecting her visit with the gridlock in the legislature.
“My trip is about bringing peace and stability to the Taiwan Strait and has nothing to do with arms procurement or any other issues,” she said.
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