Chairperson of Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT), Cheng Li-wen, visited five U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday Eastern Time and stated that the KMT's true stance is not to oppose U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. She also criticized the external labeling of her as 'pro-China' as being taken out of context and deliberately vilifying.
Cheng Li-wen visited the U.S. in early June. On Tuesday, she went to Washington, entering the 'deep waters' of her U.S. visit. Before her departure, Cheng had said she would meet officials from the U.S. federal government in Washington, including the State Department, Department of Defense, and Taiwan-related agencies. However, the level, identity, and content of these meetings, as is customary, are kept confidential at the request of the U.S. side.
According to United Daily News, on Wednesday, Cheng paid visits to U.S. federal senators and representatives including Republican Senator Steve Daines, Republican Representatives John Rose and Chuck Fleischmann, Democratic Representative Tom Suozzi, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast.
Cheng Li-wen said that many U.S. lawmakers had been misled and received incorrect information, but they were still willing to communicate face-to-face and wanted to hear her personally address U.S. concerns about Taiwan's arms procurement budget.
Cheng stated that the KMT's true stance is not to oppose U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, but rather to attach great importance to cooperation with the U.S. in arms procurement. She further mentioned that under the DPP's NTD 1.25 trillion (about MYR 106.2 billion) blank check authorization, priority was given to approving the portion for U.S. arms sales.
On May 8, Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed, in the third reading, a special defense budget ordinance totaling NTD 780 billion (about MYR 100 billion), led by the KMT and another opposition party, the Taiwan People's Party. The ordinance is limited only to U.S. arms sales with price quotations and amounts to two-thirds of the DPP administration's original proposal.
Cheng Li-wen stated that Taiwan's arms procurement budget must conform to the procedural justice of Taiwan's legislation, satisfy fiscal discipline, and most importantly, avoid giving the DPP opportunities for corruption.
As for the external labeling of her as pro-China, Cheng also voiced her dissatisfaction, saying these were all out-of-context and deliberate distortions. She said that for this very reason, the KMT must further emphasize communication and exchanges with the U.S. side.
Cheng also noted that the U.S. lawmakers she met with during this trip were very open-minded and all wanted to engage with her directly to understand the KMT's true position.