TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨) has vehemently denied allegations from Liberty Times (自由時報), a pro-government newspaper, that it blocked a defense budget special act to secure a forum arrangement with Beijing and has taken legal action against the outlet. The KMT on Tuesday (Jan. 27) labeled the report as a malicious fabrication, accusing the newspaper of damaging its reputation and misleading the public.
The controversy erupted as the Legislative Yuan's (立法院), Taiwan's parliament, Procedure Committee reviewed the eight-year NT$1.25 trillion (around US$39.81 billion) defense budget special act. The KMT criticized Liberty Times (自由時報) for inconsistent reporting within 24 hours, noting that the outlet initially accused the party of not doing enough to block arms purchases and later praised it for successfully doing so. The KMT argued that these contradictions indicate a lack of fact-checking.
The party further stated that the review of the defense special act and the military procurement budget falls under the Legislative Yuan's supervisory authority, and is unrelated to cross-strait exchanges or party interactions. The KMT emphasized that cross-strait exchanges or party interactions never involve conditional exchanges, stating that twisting the supervision of the arms purchase budget into a political transaction violates common sense. The party asserted that Liberty Times' report severely damaged its reputation.
The party's decision to take legal action aims to defend its integrity and demand a halt to the spread of false information. Calling for rationality and facts in Taiwan's democratic society, the KMT urged that national defense should not be used as a tool for partisan conflict. The party stated that cross-strait relations should not be distorted into fabricated media stories. ◼ (At time of reporting, US$1 equals approximately NT$31.4)