The special defence budget will be “treated as a top legislative priority” after the Chinese New Year holiday, says a spokesperson for Taiwan’s parliament.
Taiwan’s parliament will prioritise the review of a US$40 billion special defence budget when it resumes work after the week-long Chinese New Year holiday, its speaker said on Monday (Feb 16) following concern about delays from US lawmakers.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te last year proposed the extra defence spending to counter China, which views the island as its own territory. But the opposition, which has a majority in parliament, has refused to review the proposal and instead advanced its own, less expensive proposals, which only fund the purchase of some of the US weapons Lai wants.
Last week, a bipartisan group of 37 US lawmakers wrote to senior Taiwanese politicians expressing concern about parliament stalling the proposed defence spending.
Parliament speaker Han Kuo-yu said in a joint statement with his deputy Johnny Chiang, who are both from the main opposition party the Kuomintang, that they would facilitate cross-party negotiations on the proposal.
The special defence spending and related proposals will be “treated as a top legislative priority” once the new parliament session starts, they added.
“We value the open, candid, and sincere exchanges between the Legislative Yuan and the US Congress and take your views seriously,” they wrote, referring to parliament’s formal name.
“Taiwan will continue to act with seriousness and resolve to make responsible contributions to its own security and to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”
The government resumes work next Monday after the Chinese New Year holiday is over.
The United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties.
Source :https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/taiwan-parliament-defence-budget-lai-ching-te-china-5934676