TAIPEI, May 23 (Reuters) – Hundreds of people rallied in central Taipei on Saturday in support of government plans to increase defence spending, after the opposition controlled parliament approved only two-thirds of the $40 billion President Lai Ching-te had requested.
Lai wanted the supplementary defence budget approved, including money for U.S. arms but also for domestically made equipment such as drones to increase deterrence against China, which views the island as its own territory.
But the opposition, which has the most seats in parliament, this month passed its own version of the spending package, and only for U.S. arms, saying the government proposals were unclear and could lead to corruption.
The Taipei protest was organised by several human rights and pro-independence groups, who waved flags and shouted slogans in support of defence spending.
“True peace requires national defence. Only by strengthening our national defence can we ensure Taiwan’s freedom,” Wang Hsing-huan, chairman of the small Taiwan Statebuilding Party, which has no lawmakers in parliament, told the crowd.
The government is now trying to get the rest of the money approved, including for its new “T-Dome” integrated air defence system.
“We need to protect ourselves against China’s expansion,” said civil engineer Angela Yen, 34. “China and Taiwan are two different countries.”
Both Taiwan’s main opposition parties say they support defence spending but will not sign “blank cheques”.
Speaking in southern Taiwan earlier on Saturday, Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the largest opposition party the Kuomintang, said nobody wanted to see war break out with China.
Taiwan is not without money, but must not spend recklessly, her party quoted her as saying.
Taiwan should invest in peace, not war, and not send the next generation to serve as soldiers and fight, added Cheng, who last month met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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