Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: KMT/Facebook
THE KMT HAS finally released its own version of the special defense budget. This proves, in some sense, a reversal of stance for the KMT, which previously sought to block any arms purchases from the US by way of the special defense budget, voting this down ten times. This occurred with the claim that the US was simply trying to foist useless weapons onto Taiwan through arms purchases and that arms purchases would, in fact, provoke China to further hostilities directed at Taiwan.
It may be internal splits within the KMT, as accentuated by external pressure, that eventually led the party to propose its own version of arms procurement. For one, 37 US lawmakers wrote an open letter urging the KMT and its ally, the TPP, to allow for the arms purchases. The director of the American Institute in Taiwan–the US de facto embassy in Taiwan in lieu of formal diplomatic ties–also met with KMT chair Cheng Li-wun to urge passage of defense spending. Eventually, Legislative Yuan president Han Kuo-yu, as well as Legislative Yuan vice president Johnny Chiang, stated that defense expenditure would be the first item for the legislature after the end of its Lunar New Year recess.
Even so, it is notable that the KMT’s version of defense spending actually follows the TPP’s version. After much push and pull between the pan-Blue and pan-Green camps on the issue of defense spending, the TPP eventually released its own version of defense spending in late January as part of what were likely efforts aimed at differentiating itself from the TPP. After all, even if aligning with the KMT on most major policy pushes in the last two years, the TPP claims to be a third party that is not part of either the pan-Blue or pan-Green camps.
The TPP’s version of arms procurement reduced the budget for purchasing arms from 1.25 trillion NTD to 400 billion NTD. Purchases were restricted to 82 HIMARS multiple rocket launcher systems, 60 M109A self-propelled howitzers, 70 Javelin anti-tank missile systems, 24 TOW-2B anti-tank missile systems, as well as missile-firing drones.
This is similar to the KMT’s version of arms procurement, except that the budget is reduced to an even lower 350 billion NTD. Purchases are restricted to HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, Javelin anti-tank missile systems, TOW anti-tank missile systems, Harpoon missile follow-on support, C5ISR systems, Altius-700M and Altius-600 drones, and helicopter parts.
In both versions of the bill, Taiwan’s drone program and the “T-Dome” anti-missile defense system will be cut. Taiwan’s drone program would be key if it is to adopt asymmetric defense strategies against the much larger enemy of China in wartime. Likewise, the “T-Dome” anti-missile defense system is a key initiative of the Lai administration, modeled after Israel’s “Iron Dome.”
The bill goes to show the optics that the KMT hopes to convey, then, to the general public. Insofar as the KMT’s version of the bill seems to be modeled on the TPP’s version, the KMT hopes to come off as more hesitant about arms purchases from the US than its smaller pan-Blue ally. At the same time, it is possible that the KMT ultimately hopes to back the TPP’s version of the bill. This would be to suggest bipartisanship, in that it would be supporting a bill proposed by another party, as well as avoiding the perception that it is wholly opposed to defense.
Indeed, the KMT is playing a delicate balancing act. Even if the KMT has sought to obstruct the Lai administration on all major measures, the KMT risks alarming the public and provoking pushback through moves seen as aimed at sabotaging Taiwan’s defense in order to benefit China. Even if largely unsuccessful, in the last two years, one has seen the successive emergence of the Bluebird Movement and Great Recall Movement against the KMT’s actions in the legislature, as movement outbreaks on a scale not seen in a decade.
Moreover, current party chair Cheng Li-wun has caused controversy on several occasions because of comments, such as suggesting that Russia attacked Ukraine in defense because of Ukraine drawing too close to NATO, as well as that she one day hoped to see Taiwanese proud to see themselves as Chinese. Still, with deep blue media commentator Jaw Shaw-kong lashing out at the KMT for proposing even some version of defense procurement, it can be seen that deep blue elements will push back against any form of moderation from the KMT at this juncture.