00:03A March 15 deadline is fast approaching for Taiwan to finalize some deals to purchase
00:08weapons from Washington, but lawmakers are locking horns over how to fund the country's
00:11military, including a $40 billion U.S. special defense budget proposed by President Lai
00:16Qingde last year.
00:17If they cannot reach a consensus before the deadline, analysts say there could be consequences.
00:46Last month, the opposition Taiwan People's Party proposed a much smaller alternative
00:50to Lai's bill, funding only the three weapons systems that Taipei had already signed for.
00:54The main opposition Kuomintang says it plans to put forward its own proposal as well,
00:58but how the two parties came up with their bills compared to Lai's, a result of in-depth
01:02consultations with the U.S., is not clear.
01:04That has some defense experts concerned.
01:37The U.S. is also pressuring Taiwanese lawmakers to move quickly. Early this month, multiple
01:42members of Congress posted on social media slamming Taiwan's opposition for blocking Lai's defense
01:47bill. Later, a bipartisan group of 37 U.S. lawmakers wrote an open letter to the opposition.
01:52It urged them to focus more on Taiwan's defenses and take China's threats more seriously. It's
01:56now up to Taiwan's legislature which defense bill will be passed. But with the U.S. arms
02:00sale now pending, and China growing bolder by the day, how they choose could have major
02:04implications from Taipei to Beijing to Washington.
02:07Yuan Duan and Larry Siano for Taiwan Plus.
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