KMT proposes NT$350 billion special budget to fund U.S. arms sales

Taipei, March 5 (CNA) The legislative caucus of Taiwan's main opposition party said Thursday it will propose a special defense budget bill totaling NT$350 billion (US$11.04 billion) to fund eight weapons sales announced by the United States in December.

Speaking at a news conference in the Legislature, Kuomintang (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said his caucus "fully supports" the eight systems listed in the U.S. foreign military sales announced on Dec. 17.

Those include High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Javelin missiles, Altius-700M and Altius-600 drones, TOW missiles, M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, C5ISR systems, Harpoon missile follow-on support and helicopter parts, which total US$11.1 billion.

In contrast, the Cabinet's special defense budget bill is NT$1.25 trillion and includes the eight systems, potential U.S. arms sales that have not been notified to Congress, and procurement plans involving domestic manufacturers such as the T-Dome multilayered air defense system and drones.

In addition, Lin said that in the event of a follow-on foreign military sales package, the bill mandates that the Ministry of National Defense draft a matching special budget bill and submit it to the Legislature for review "promptly and without delay."

"We hope to take a phased approach to move arms procurement forward concretely and transparently, as opposed to a one-time authorization of a blank check," he said.

He added that the caucus will formally sponsor the bill later Thursday, after final adjustments.

The move came amid pressure from Washington over the opposition parties' blocking of the sales.

• U.S. lawmakers urge opposition to approve special defense budget

Senior KMT members, including Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) and Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), have recently expressed concern that blocking the arms sales package could sour Taiwan-U.S. relations.

The KMT caucus, along with the smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party caucus, has blocked the review of the Cabinet's bill 10 times since late November, criticizing the budget's "opaque" contents and demanding that President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) brief and be questioned by lawmakers on the budget before any review can begin.

However, Lin on Thursday rejected accusations that the KMT had blocked the arms sales.

The KMT's bill, he said, is meant to distinguish between foreign military sales -- the costs of which are specified in letters of acceptance issued by the U.S. -- and direct commercial sales, which are often opaque and have sparked major corruption scandals in the past.