Legislature snubs Cabinet, advances TPP's special defense budget bill

Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) The Legislature on Friday advanced a Taiwan People's Party (TPP)-tabled bill governing arms procurement packages approved by the United States to a committee review.

The move came after the 113-seat legislative body, where TPP and the Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers hold a combined majority, voted down a ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) motion to review the Cabinet's NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.8 billion) special defense budget bill.

In contrast to the Cabinet's bill, the TPP's is narrower in scope, covering only five of the eight weapons systems approved for sale by the U.S. Department of State in December and setting a spending cap of NT$400 billion.

The TPP's proposal allocates NT$126.7 billion for 60 M109A7 self-propelled howitzers along with 4,080 rounds of precision munitions, and NT$127.6 billion for 82 HIMARS multiple rocket missile systems.

It also covers anti-armor loitering munition systems, capped at NT$34.7 billion, 70 Javelin anti-armor missile launchers and 1,050 missiles, capped at NT$11.8 billion, and 24 TOW 2B anti-armor missile launchers and 1,545 missiles, capped at NT$11.1 billion.

However, several preapproved U.S. weapons sales present in the Cabinet's special budget are omitted, including US$1.01 billion for tactical mission network software, US$96 million for AH-1W helicopter parts, and US$91.4 million for Harpoon missile support.

Funding for partnerships with the local arms industry, procurement of 200,000 drones, and the T-Dome multilayered air defense system to protect Taiwan against Chinese missiles are also absent.

Reacting to developments on Friday, the final day of the current legislative session, Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the KMT and TPP "politicizing" the issue could delay Taiwan's weapons procurement plans and negatively affect its efforts to build combat readiness.

Lee accused the TPP of merely copying and pasting publicly available information released by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and crudely splitting off parts of the Cabinet's proposal, saying the opposition bill "lacked strategic vision and force-building planning, deviated from established military procurement practices and ignored defense self-reliance."

According to Lee, the MND has repeatedly warned that the TPP's bill covers only the procurement of certain equipment and fails to establish supporting measures, which could render implementation by the ministry "impossible."

The Legislature has repeatedly blocked a review of the Cabinet's special defense budget since President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced it in November, with the KMT and TPP demanding that Lai first brief lawmakers and take questions on the proposal -- a request Lai has rejected.