TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Dan Sullivan on Monday slammed the Kuomintang for “playing with fire,” accusing the party of obstructing Taiwan’s defense spending to appease the Chinese Communist Party.
On Jan. 27, KMT and Taiwan People's Party legislators blocked the review of an NT$1.25 trillion (US$35.64 billion) special defense budget proposed by President Lai Ching-te for the 10th time, per Liberty Times. Instead, they voted to review a draft defense budget proposed by the TPP that is substantially lower at NT$400 billion.
Sullivan criticized the KMT on X, saying the Legislative Yuan went into recess last week without passing the budget needed for Taiwan’s self-defense. He noted that the KMT has sent a delegation to Beijing to meet with the CCP and is planning broader engagement.
He said the implications are self-evident. “I’ve warned before - short changing Taiwan’s defense to kowtow to the CCP is playing with fire," Sullivan said.
On Nov. 25, Lai announced in a Washington Post op-ed that he would propose a special defense budget to procure US weapons. The House Foreign Affairs Committee praised Lai’s proposed defense package as “a huge stride” for Taiwan’s self-defense and Indo-Pacific security, while American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene called it “a major step towards maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait by strengthening deterrence.”
