Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Eric Chu/Facebook
THE KMT’S CONFLICTED position on budgeting–as well as the military–is apparent with recent moves. Namely, the KMT has acted to increase the monthly allowance of voluntary soldiers to 30,000 NT. This is an increase of over 15,000 NT.
For its part, the KMT claims that the move is aimed at the retention of talent in the military. After all, one of the reasons why members of the military do not stay is due to low salaries, as well as a lack of opportunities for advancement.
While this is not incorrect, increasing the monthly allowance of voluntary soldiers occurs despite the fact that the KMT has generally acted to defund the defense budget. Cuts passed by the KMT-controlled legislature earlier this year affect 34% of the government’s operational budget.
As part of the cuts, key programs such as the domestic submarine program saw their budget halved. 30% of funding was frozen for a large-scale drone training facility in Chiayi, where 50 companies working on drones are located, along with other military industries clustered in the area.
As part of these cuts, 30% of operational expenses will be frozen, impacting spare parts, ammunition, and fuel for military equipment. 15% in funding for domestic and international travel will be reduced, impacting Taiwan’s ability to conduct exchanges internationally for the sake of greater military cooperation.
To this end, 60% of publicity funding was cut, severely undercutting the ability of the military to advertise and recruit soldiers. This seems to run contrary to the KMT’s claim that it hopes to strengthen retention of talent for the military.
The KMT seems to be resorting to a longstanding tactic–that of handing out cash to members of the public in return for votes. The KMT may be attempting this with members of the military. The military is traditionally seen as hewing pan-Blue, given that the military served as the enforcers of KMT rule during the authoritarian period. In return for political loyalty, members of the military, along with teachers, public servants, and members of the police, were provided with generous pensions with an 18% preferential savings rate.
Consequently, such groups came to constitute a political and economic elite during authoritarian times, with waishengren mostly being those who were allowed to hold such jobs. When the Tsai administration previously moved to change this pension system to prevent the overall pension system from going bankrupt, the KMT criticized this as denigrating classes that Taiwanese society has traditionally held in esteem.
At other times, the KMT has pushed for cash handouts for the elderly, as a means of benefiting another demographic that is more strongly supportive of it. More generally, one notes that the cuts to the government budget called for by the KMT–the largest series of budget cuts in Taiwanese history–occurred despite record tax windfall for the government last year, with record-high tax revenue in 2024 due to strong economic growth. Instead of calling for its use on social services to address long-standing problems facing Taiwanese society, such as unaffordable housing or the growing crisis in Taiwan’s medical sector, the KMT called for the extra income to be distributed as cash handouts to the public.
The KMT has come to have a contorted position on government spending, in this light. For example, in response to the economic shocks caused by tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump, the KMT proposed using funds to alleviate industry that it had previously frozen. This occurs despite that the KMT still calls for an end to subsidies for state-run power utility Taipower, which are used to keep electricity prices artificially low in order to maintain the incentives for industry to remain in Taiwan.
As with calls to cut Taipower subsidies but bail out industries affected by tariffs, or to cut the defense budget but increase salary for soldiers, the KMT seems to be calling for cuts in a way that negatively impacts the DPP and would result in public anger over it. In the meantime, the KMT calls for the government to be directed to groups that have traditionally supported it. This proves typical pork barrel politics for the KMT, then.