Defense budget amount contingent on U.S. LOA: KMT chair

Taipei, April 28 (CNA) Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said Tuesday that a proposed special defense budget should be approved only after Taiwan receives a formal Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) from the United States.

In an interview with Taiwan's online news outlet CNEWS, Cheng criticized the Cabinet's proposal as a "blank check" totaling NT$1.25 trillion (US$38.8 billion) over eight years. She argued that it lacks sufficient detail on how most of the funds would be spent and is therefore unacceptable to the KMT.

An LOA is a formal document under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program that confirms a purchasing country's agreement to acquire specific defense equipment and authorizes the U.S. government to proceed with procurement.

Cheng said the KMT supports passing an initial NT$380 billion defense budget, which would be sufficient to cover the US$11.1 billion in arms packages approved for sale to Taiwan by the U.S. in December 2025.

An additional NT$400 billion could be considered if a second round of LOAs is issued. Without such documentation, she said, there is a risk the extra funding could be misused by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Cheng also said her party is open to discussing investments in areas such as domestic drone development, provided proposals are clearly defined. The current plan, she said, remains vague and lacks concrete details.

The Legislative Yuan held cross-party negotiations on the special defense budget bill on Monday, but failed to reach a consensus after about 70 minutes of discussion.

Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) said further negotiations will be held on May 6.