Foreign-run domestic politicsBy Howard Shen 沈正浩In the past 72 hours, US Senators Roger Wicker, Dan Sullivan and Ruben Gallego took to social media to publicly rebuke the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the defense budget. The narrative fed to our allies claims the opposition is slashing the defense budget to kowtow to the Chinese Communist Party. Last year, under a KMT-plurality legislature, Taiwan passed a record-breaking national defense budget of NT$471 billion (US$14.7 billion). Had the KMT intended to sabotage Taiwan’s security, that record-high budget would never even have left the committee room. By name-dropping the KMT, these senators have unwittingly assisted the Lai administration’s strategy of foreign-managed domestic politics.

Source: Taipei Times February 07, 2026 17:29 UTC