TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After the passage of an opposition-backed special defense budget with a ceiling of NT$780 billion (US$24 billion), Taiwan might be unable to meet a deadline to submit the initial down payment for the HIMARS rocket system, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Saturday.
The deadline for the NT$800 million payment for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems has been set for May 31. If Taiwan misses the deadline, the procurement case will be canceled and will have to be restarted, defense officials said.
Lai said the failure of the Legislative Yuan to pass his government’s NT$1.25 trillion special budget proposal and the addition of compulsory reviews by legislators threatened the HIMARS payment, per CNA. The president said he hoped the political parties could continue to make an effort, as there was no space for a discount on national security.
Friday’s approval of the NT$780 billion budget by KMT and TPP lawmakers was only a difficult first step, but not a complete answer, Lai told reporters during a visit to Tainan Saturday. The maximum limit under the approved budget is too low, and leaves no room for the domestic development of weapons systems, he said.
His own budget plan considered procurement of arms from the US, but also from innovators in the private sector and from international technological development projects, according to the president.
Under the plan passed by the Legislative Yuan, the lawmakers would first have to give their approval before the budget could be drawn up for a procurement case, he said. Lai hoped legislators could reconsider this extra obstacle in the way of arms deals, per CNA.
Because of the change in the legislative procedure, it is possible that the Legislative Yuan will not approve the HIMARS budget before the May 31 deadline for the down payment, Lai said. He warned that missing the deadline would have a grave impact.
