TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — KMT Spokesperson Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) said Wednesday the party will unveil its version of the special defense budget before March 6.
The Legislative Yuan agreed Tuesday to send the Cabinet’s special defense budget proposal — along with other related measures yet to be announced — to committee review together with the TPP’s proposal, per CNA. The Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee and the Finance Committee will conduct a joint review.
Niu said internal discussions are ongoing to finalize the KMT’s proposal. He noted that the party’s version will be reviewed alongside the Cabinet’s bill once it is submitted.
On arms procurement from the US, Niu said his party acknowledged US considerations regarding the hardware offered. However, it stressed that the KMT will scrutinize the process to ensure no items unrelated to defense are inserted into the legislation.
Before Tuesday’s decision, opposition lawmakers had blocked the special defense budget from entering committee review 10 consecutive times, per Liberty Times. Before the legislature decided to send the bill to committee, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) reportedly told KMT members that moving the proposal to committee would be like removing “a piece of paper choking the party without it realizing,” per CNA.
The ruling DPP continued to criticize the opposition’s handling of the bill. DPP Legislator Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) warned that pushing the measure through committee in mid- or late-March could be too late, citing the time-sensitive US letter of offer for the arms sale, per Liberty Times.
Chen described the KMT and TPP as the source of what she called chaos surrounding the special defense budget. She urged TPP Chair Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and KMT Caucus Convener Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) to rally their lawmakers behind Taiwan’s defense needs.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), an analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, warned that if the US letter of offer expires, Taiwan could face higher costs or even cancellation of the arms deal, per Liberty Times. He said Taiwan might also have to restart administrative procedures for procurement, delaying weapons deliveries.
