Government decries massive budget cuts proposed by KMT, TPP

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) Ministries voiced objections on Thursday to plans by Taiwan's opposition parties to vote for massive cuts to the 2025 central government budget, with the country's premier warning the country would be "weakened" in five major areas.

Taiwan's national competitiveness, national security, technological development, civil service performance and government communications would be diminished if opposition parties cut next year's budget, Taiwan's Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said at a press conference held at the Executive Yuan.

Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior (MOI) criticized potential cuts to its media budget, arguing that the ministry's current budget only had NT$230 million allocated for anti-fraud messaging for 2025 while a single fraud group was found to have spent NT$250 million on advertising scams in just six months.

"The current proposal to cut all funding for anti-fraud media campaigns is tantamount to surrendering to the fraud gangs," said Deputy Interior Minister Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) at the press conference.

Deputy Justice Minister Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) also said that proposed cuts of NT$12.3 million to the Ministry of Justice's (MOJ) media budget would harm anti-bribery, anti-narcotic and anti-fraud efforts.

Vice Defense Minister Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) said that the opposition parties' plan to cut the national defense budget would "severely impact combat readiness."

Po said that 38 defense projects -- including those relating to submarines, mine-laying vessels, drones and new rifles -- would be affected by the proposed "cuts of up to 44 percent."

Economics Minister Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) hinted that the opposition's plans to cut NT$200 billion from Taiwan Power Co.'s budget would cause the energy supplier to suffer "a big hit."

Noting that the current budget "effectively subsidizes the entire population," Kuo suggested that electricity prices could rise if the cuts were passed, but emphasized that any decisions over price increases would be determined by the Electricity Price Review Committee.

National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said that proposed budget cuts would have a "very big impact" on research and development in areas including quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI).

"If the NSTC's operating expenses are frozen by 70 percent, this will be something that has not happened since the establishment of the Science Parks," Wu said, adding that operations in the state-run sites, the first of which was established in Hsinchu in 1979, would be affected as early as April.

Agriculture Deputy Minister Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) said that the proposed 40 percent cuts to the Ministry of Agriculture's (MOA) administrative budget would mean basic services, including phone and fax machines, would no longer function.

Hu said that the budget also supports essential programs including elderly farmer subsidies supporting 520,000 people, occupational insurance for 340,000 farmers, product traceability systems and inspections of imported feeds and additives.

The cuts would thus "directly impact consumer safety," the agriculture minister said.

The press conference is a response to lawmakers of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) demanding massive cuts to the annual general budget that was presented by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-controlled government in August 2024.

The 2025 budget anticipates NT$3.15 trillion of revenue and NT$3.13 trillion of expenditure, resulting in a surplus of NT$20.9 billion, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics.

Amid the political struggle between ruling and opposition parties in the Legislature, the budget has been the subject of many months of negotiations between the ruling DPP, and the KMT and TPP, which collectively command a majority of seats in the Legislature.