Kuomintang Internal Divide Stalls Taiwan Defense Budget

The Kuomintang (KMT) is experiencing a deep internal split over a proposed special defense budget intended to fund domestic weapons and U.S. arms packages. While party headquarters is pushing a NT$380 billion plus N proposal—where additional funds are added upon U.S. acceptance—many KMT legislators favor a higher budget between NT$800 billion and NT$1 trillion. This friction led Chairperson Cheng Li-wun and caucus convener Fu Kun-chi to launch a call campaign to pressure members to support the caucus version over alternative proposals.

This deadlock has blocked a NT$1.25 trillion supplementary budget introduced by President William Lai to deter China. Former U.S. officials, including Michael Studeman and Mark Montgomery, have warned that failure to increase spending could damage international trust and prompt punitive measures from U.S. President Donald Trump. Within the KMT, tensions have escalated to the point that deputy chair Chi Lin-lien called for the expulsion of Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu for allegedly supporting a larger budget.

Parallelly, the Taiwan People's Party remains undecided on which proposal to support. TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang suggested that the legislative impasse could be resolved if the United States promptly announces a second arms sales package, rather than delaying the decision until after President Trump's scheduled meeting with President Xi Jinping on May 14 to 15.