A fourth cross-caucus meeting yesterday failed to reach a consensus on budget items and amounts for a special defense budget, while Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) said that the Legislative Yuan would be able to vote on the issue as soon as Friday.
There have been three previous reviews of the draft special statute for the procurement of defense resilience and asymmetric combat capability programs, with consensus reached on the name of the act, the implementation period and the implementation procedures.
The budget items and amounts are points of contention, with the Executive Yuan proposing NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.68 billion) over eight years, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) proposing NT$400 billion and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposing a NT$380 billion “+N” policy.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Han had called a 10-minute recess during the discussions in hopes that the caucuses would initiate sideline talks, but yesterday’s review ultimately failed to reach a consensus on the disputed issues.
TPP caucus convener Jacky Chen (陳清龍) said that his party’s stance on the budget remains unchanged.
Chen asked why a Ministry of National Defense report in March estimated it needed NT$137.5 billion for an item and NT$81 billion for it in a separate report last month.
He also asked why the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was unwilling to budge on its proposal.
The TPP backs defense spending, but some procurement items could be funded through regular annual budgets rather than a special budget, he said.
DPP caucus whip Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said that the ministry has repeatedly justified the need for a special budget, warning that cuts would undermine efforts to expand Taiwan’s defense industry, including opportunities for precision manufacturers in the nation’s central and southern regions.
KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi said that all parties support a boost in defense, but funding should be approved only after the US issues letters of offer and acceptance.
Fu also questioned the need for emergency funding when more than NT$700 billion of weapons systems have yet to be delivered.
Separately, President William Lai (賴清德), speaking during a DPP Central Standing Committee meeting ahead of the meeting at the legislature, urged the opposition parties to back the Executive Yuan’s proposal, calling it a comprehensive plan based on strategic needs, and aligned with domestic development and US assessments.
The opposition parties’ proposals lack scale and coherence, which could hinder upgrades to defense capabilities and domestic research, particularly in drone development, Lai said.
He also rejected claims that the DPP’s budget is a “blank check,” as the ministry has already submitted two classified reports to the legislature and would continue to submit to oversight procedures.
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