The Legislative Yuan today announced that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) is to give a special report to the legislature on Tuesday next week regarding the first batch of procurement plans under the new national defense budget.
If the plans are approved by the Legislative Yuan, the Executive Yuan would submit the proposal to the legislature by noon on Wednesday.
The legislature would then hold an additional plenary session that afternoon, during which Cho would return to report on the drafting process and answer questions.
Photo: Taipei Times
Once questioning concludes, the proposal would immediately be sent for review, and all caucuses have agreed not to file reconsideration motions.
The schedule was decided today following cross-party negotiations convened by Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang (江啟臣).
The Legislative Yuan passed the third reading of a special defense budget of NT$780 billion (US$24.75 billion) on Friday last week, with a budget ceiling of NT$300 billion for the first round of US arms procurements and a cap of NT$480 billion for the second round.
It further required the Cabinet to submit a related special report within one month of the act’s passage and submit a proposal to the legislature to review within two months.
The deadline for Taiwan’s initial payment of NT$800 million for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems from the US is set for May 31.
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it still aims to complete payment by the deadline and would move quickly to deliver a special report to the legislature.
It said it would then draft the budget proposal and submit it to the Executive Yuan for review.
The first payment would be released under Article 84 of the Budget Act (預算法), it said.
Tuesday’s meeting would be attended by three representatives each from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and one from the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP).
The Wednesday session would invite Cho, the director-general of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of National Defense and other heads of relevant agencies.
The KMT and DPP caucuses would each appoint five representatives, while the TPP would appoint two.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS