Taiwan president urges parliament to pass arms budget

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Wednesday urged the opposition-controlled parliament to pass his $40 billion special defence budget, which has been stalled by lawmakers, saying given the ⁠rising threat level strengthening the military cannot wait.



Lai last year proposed the defence boost to counter China, which views the island as its own territory.



But parliament has instead advanced its own, less expensive proposals, which only fund some U.S. weapons.



The main opposition party Kuomintang (KMT), whose vice chairman visited Beijing last week, said it supports defence spending but will not sign "blank cheques" and has a right to fully scrutinise the legislation, blaming Lai for the impasse.



Speaking to reporters at the presidential office, Lai said he had never asked lawmakers to pass the spending unconditionally, reiterating that the government was happy to provide detailed explanation on its plans.