Opposition blocks review for the 10th timeBy Chen Yun, Su Yung-yao and Sam Garcia / Staff reporters, with staff writerOpposition lawmakers yesterday blocked review of the special defense budget for the 10th time, while the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported that doing so might be a precondition for a summit between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing. Legislators hold signs at a meeting of the Procedure Committee at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNASources said that the forum would pave the way for a meeting between KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The CCP is open to the KMT’s proposed think tank exchange on issues such as tourism, technology, green energy and low birthrates, despite its view that it is a stalling tactic, Taiwanese businesspeople based in Beijing said. Using lawful oversight of the defense budget as a political bargaining chip not only defies basic common sense, but also seriously misleads the public, it said.

Source: Taipei Times January 27, 2026 16:05 UTC