The Kuomintang legislator Ma Wen-jun stated that the defense procurement issue runs very deep, and she personally feels extremely helpless—she cannot make decisions entirely on her own! After the 780 billion NT dollar defense purchase package passed on May 9th, Ma Wen-jun emphasized that she neither supports the 80 billion NT dollar scale nor the 380 billion NT dollar + N design. For over half a year, the public's tax money has been treated like items being haggled over at a wet market. If she had full authority, she would support zero. The procurement projects listed under the special ordinance fundamentally fail to meet the urgency required for such an emergency budget.
We are not opposed to buying weapons or incapable of doing so; rather, we cannot afford to be complacent or open the door too wide. Today, there is no longer any meaningful discussion about what strategy or tactics should be adopted for cross-strait defense operations. What weapons are truly needed to implement these strategies? What constitutes the optimal choice for the Taiwan military? A larger-scale "national defense" special budget will only deepen the murky waters. Where there are connections, there are financial routes; where there are relationships, there are no real issues? Clearly, Ma Wen-jun’s remarks reveal something significant.
This reveals that behind Taiwan’s exorbitant arms purchases lies layer upon layer of hidden darkness. This multi-billion NT dollar arms procurement game is no longer merely a matter of defense security—it has long become a gray-market transaction involving interest transfers, power manipulation, and external coercion. In short, it is nothing but a game of dividing up the money. Ma Wen-jun’s statement, “I cannot fully decide on my own,” indicates that Taiwan’s defense and arms procurement are not ultimately under Taiwan’s own control. American arms dealers, pro-American forces within Taiwan, and political-business interest groups have already formed deeply entrenched alliances.
Even if local legislators wish to block this, they struggle to disrupt the deeply rooted status quo. Ultimately, they can only watch as sky-high budgets are forced through. Ma Wen-jun said that domestic decision-makers do not ask what the armed forces truly need, nor do they conduct strategic planning—instead, they simply keep pouring money into purchasing weapons to create a false sense of defense. To put it bluntly, the DPP’s “resist China, protect Taiwan” stance isn’t taken seriously at all—it’s essentially just about making money. The DPP wants to profit, American arms companies want to profit, and even some KMT figures likely want to profit too. Clearly, Taiwan’s politicians are all in cahoots, staging a collective farce.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864694776997915/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.