Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/11/22
By Wang Yang-yu, Justin Su and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Nov. 22 (CNA) Taiwan's Legislature on Friday passed a special budget for the purchase of a new fleet of advanced F-16 fighter jets from the United States, less than one month after the budget was approved by the Cabinet on Oct. 31.

The allocation of NT$247.24 billion (US$8.1 billion) over seven years from 2020 to 2026 for the procurement of 66 F-16 C/D Block 70 fighter planes was cut by a mere NT$10 million.

The swift passage and the insignificant cut to the budget by lawmakers were attributed to the willingness of both the ruling and opposition parties to pass the budget bill before it would have entered a one-month period of interparty negotiations.

Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Tseng Ming-chung (曾銘宗), a caucus whip, said the KMT caucus supported the budget bill because it believes purchasing fighter jets will help improve the national defense capability of the Republic of China (Taiwan).    [FULL  STORY]