00:00The legislature has spoken.
00:02On Friday, it approved nearly 25 billion U.S. dollars in special defense spending.
00:07But two days on, political wrangling and some concern have not abated.
00:12The opposition-backed budget falls far short of what the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, had wanted.
00:35And the military is unhappy too, specifically about what the budget doesn't cover.
00:48The opposition though, says this is nothing to worry about.
00:52It says funding for those things will come through other channels.
01:07But that's only the start of the disagreement over this budget.
01:11The president is concerned about another detail.
01:14The past bill includes a review and approval process that says the Executive Yuan must submit a special report within
01:20a month
01:21before the money can be allocated for certain weapons purchases.
01:24But this all adds up to time Taiwan doesn't have.
01:27With a bill for one such weapon system, the HIMARS rocket system, due May 31st.
01:45All of this, from disputes on how much to spend,
01:48to concerns about what the budget covers and how it works, comes at a sensitive time.
01:54U.S. President Donald Trump is less than a week away from meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
02:00It's Taiwan's security guarantor, the U.S., in the same room with China,
02:04which has vowed to take Taiwan even by force.
02:08Analysts say that the budget's passage ahead of the meeting means that Taiwan is at least not losing ground.
02:13But they warn that Taiwan will eventually need to do more for its security.
02:34The U.S. State Department has voiced its approval for the budget's passage,
02:38but says that delayed payments for weapons in the future will be a concession from Taiwan to China.
02:44Eason Chen and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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