Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu says lawmakers will be placing President Lai
Ching-te's 1.25-trillion N-T special defense budget as the first item for
review when the new session begins after the Lunar New Year holiday.

In a joint statement issued with Deputy Legislative Speaker Johnny Chiang,
Han both of them will facilitate cross-party negotiations on the proposal --
stressing that they will be acting as representatives of the entire
Legislature and not a single party.

According to Han and Chiang, they value open and frank exchanges with the U-S
government and understand the views of American lawmakers ...

.... and they will work towards contributing to Taiwan's security and the
maintenance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The statement comes after 34 U-S lawmakers expressed concern last week over
the unprecedented threat from Beijing and the possibility that only part of
the eight-year, special budget would be approved.