By Shih Hsiao-kuang and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
President William Lai (賴清德) needs to address the Legislative Yuan regarding a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.8 billion) special defense budget bill, as it is inflammatory and would escalate cross-strait tensions, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday.
Lai on Wednesday announced the plan, which he said would be allocated over eight years through 2033 to meet military goals to have a "high level" of joint combat readiness against China by 2027.
The Presidential Office later clarified that Lai's speech meant that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aimed to be prepared for military unification by 2027, denying media reports that Lai had said the CCP would unify Taiwan by force by 2027.
KMT Legislator Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), head of the party's Culture and Communications Committee, told a news conference yesterday that Lai's comments stirred unrest domestically, and upset military morale, the economy and the willingness of foreign corporations to invest in Taiwan.
Lai should not be allowed to speak nonsense, even if he enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution as president, Wu said.
Taiwan is in a hazardous situation, and Lai should not add fuel to the fire for the fleeting satisfaction of having the final say, he said.
If Lai has actionable intelligence that the CCP is preparing to launch an invasion by 2027, he is duty-bound to inform the country, Wu said.
If the 2027 date is confirmed and arms purchases from the US -- which have faced constant delays -- are pushed back to after 2027, any announcements would have little significance, he said.
If there is no actionable intelligence regarding an imminent CCP invasion, Lai is trading the peace, stability and happy lives the public have for his own political benefit, or he is secretly working as an arms dealer for the US, Wu said.
KMT spokeswoman Chiang Yi-chen (江怡臻) said that 40 percent of the national budget being spent on national defense is something seen only in wartime economies.
The special budget's eight-year timeframe overshoots 2027 by a long way, Chiang said, adding that development of the nation's first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤), has missed delivery schedules, despite the government's spending NT$50 billion on the project.
KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) said that if the 2027 prediction is real, the government should not instigate division within the country.
As the US owes Taiwan NT$660 billion in military assets that have not been delivered, is an eight-year plan that extends beyond 2027 necessary? she asked.