Opposition lawmakers from the Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party, which hold a slight joint majority in the legislature, have voted to not review a US$40 billion defense budget bill later this week. They said the ruling Democratic Progressive Party is trying to rush it through the review process, and that President Lai Ching-te should take questions from lawmakers about how the money will be spent. DPP legislators accused their opposition colleagues of blocking the bill to satisfy their own interests.
00:00Taiwan's opposition parties have put the president's proposal for a record-high defense budget on hold.
00:20Opposition lawmakers from the Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party voted to keep the bill from being reviewed in the legislature later this week.
00:27They say the $40 billion special budget is being pushed through too quickly, and its details are not clear.
00:35The ruling Democratic Progressive Party says the opposition is deliberately trying to block the proposal.
00:40The cabinet approved the proposal last week, saying the money would go toward domestic arms production, strengthening military resilience, and building a new air defense system known as the T-Dome.
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