KMT Chairwoman's NSC Meeting Canceled Amid Arms Sales Row

Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun （鄭麗文） and her delegation visit the office of US Senator Steve Daines in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: CNA

PUSHBACK?The venue for the meeting with the US National Security Council was downgraded from the White House before it was eventually canceled, local media said

By Tzou Jiing-wen and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

A scheduled meeting between Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun （鄭麗文） and US National Security Council （NSC） officials in Washington on Wednesday was abruptly canceled, sources familiar with the matter said.

Prior to the meeting, the venue had already been downgraded from the White House to the American Institute in Taiwan’s Washington headquarters, foreign media sources said.

The officials Cheng was scheduled to meet with were also of a lower rank compared with the March visit by Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen （盧秀燕）, they added.

According to past customs, heads of Taiwanese local governments or the chairs of political parties would meet with NSC members at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House.

During their visits to the US, Lu and Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang （黃國昌） had meetings with NSC officials at the building.

The change in plans might be due to Cheng’s continued commentary on arms sales and Taiwan-US relations, and her claims that a First Island Chain security collaboration was a Cold War mindset, local media said.

The KMT’s slashing of funds from the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience （因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例）, better known as the special defense budget, was also surmised to be the reason many lawmakers canceled meeting with Cheng, they said.

One Washington-based foreign reporter said that the eight-year, NT$1.25 trillion （US$39.5 billion） special defense budget was the result of Taiwan-US negotiations, and Cheng framing the budget as a “blank check” and accusing the Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） of corruption has upset the national security and military communities.

Such claims not only imply that the US is involved in shady dealings, but also place domestic politicking above national security, the source said, adding that it is especially frustrating that the claims are similar to those made by Beijing.

However, Cheng still met with several US senators and representatives on Wednesday, discussing Taiwan’s defense budget, arms purchases and energy policy, among other issues.

Cheng met with Republican Senator Steve Daines, Republican representatives John Rose, Chuck Fleischmann and Brian Mast, and Democratic Representative Thomas Suozzi, the KMT said.

In an earlier interview, Cheng said that one purpose of her visit was to explain to US lawmakers the KMT’s position on Taiwan’s defense budget and arms purchases, as they had expressed concerns about those issues.

On Wednesday, Cheng said that during her visit, US lawmakers also raised questions about Taiwan’s energy policy and nuclear power, with some of them expressing “frustration” over the DPP’s anti-nuclear stance and “welcoming” the KMT’s support for nuclear energy.

Cheng said she hopes Taiwan and the US could deepen cooperation on nuclear technologies.

The KMT in a statement last night said that all of Cheng’s meetings with executive departments in Washington were confidential and no information would be released to the public.

Deliberate defamation by certain media outlets only exposes the DPP’s panic and insecurity, it added.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES

不用抽 不用搶 現在用APP看新聞 保證天天中獎 點我下載APP 按我看活動辦法