Taipei Times
Date: May 16, 2017
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter

President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has failed to realize its promise to meaningfully increase military spending, academics affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) National Policy Foundation think tank said yesterday, criticizing the feasibility of the government’s submarine program and continued recruitment difficulties.

“They only have empty words and are planning to ‘fight tigers with their bare hands,’” the foundation’s National Security Division convener Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said, criticizing the administration for cutting NT$10.3 billion (US$342 million) from the military investment budget this year, bringing it to NT$88 billion.

While flagship programs such as developing an indigenous submarine deserve support, there are serious concerns about their feasibility, he said.

“The government should avoid throwing away money,” he said, adding that major expenditures on the submarine program should be avoided unless US support is guaranteed.    [FULL  STORY]