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.
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