Taiwanese Lawmakers Propose Slashing Foreign Ministry's Media Budget

A proposal by two Kuomintang lawmakers, Ma Wen-chun and Weng Hsiao-ling, seeks to slash the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' media and publicity budget by NT$104.219 million for the upcoming fiscal year. The lawmakers argue that the proposed budget of NT$131.819 million is excessive, representing a 377.61% increase compared to the legally approved budget of NT$27.6 million for the current year.

Citing the need for fiscal austerity amidst increased national defense spending and disaster relief efforts, the proposal contends that the media budget lacks urgency and necessity. The lawmakers advocate for maintaining the budget at the level of the previous fiscal year, 2025, to collectively share the nation's financial burdens. The committee is scheduled to review the ministry's budget on June 10.

This move follows a contentious budget review earlier this year, where the ministry's initial NT$111.27 million media budget for 2025 was completely eliminated by a coalition of KMT and Taiwan People's Party legislators. A partial restoration of NT$27.6 million for international communication and media promotion was only approved later through a supplementary budget.

Lawmaker Ma Wen-chun specifically targeted a NT$23.8 million allocation for public diplomacy and international communication, arguing it should be fully cut. She cited the lack of execution results and clear performance metrics from the previous year as reasons for eliminating this segment. Ma emphasized the need for the ministry to overhaul its public diplomacy and media communication strategies, establishing a performance-oriented management system and enhancing budget transparency.