Taiwan parliament to tackle defense spending review from Monday
Taiwan's parliament will prioritize the review of a $40 billion special defense budget when it resumes work after the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, its speaker said Monday following concern about delays from U.S. lawmakers.Taiwan President Lai Ching-te last year proposed the extra defense spending to counter China, which views the island as its own territory. But the opposition, which has a majority in parliament, has refused to review the proposal and instead advanced its own, less expensive proposals, which only fund the purchase of some of the U.S. weapons Lai wants.Last week, a bipartisan group of 37 U.S. lawmakers wrote to senior Taiwanese politicians expressing concern about parliament stalling the proposed defense spending.
