Weng Hsiao-ling refuses to apologize and vows to slash next year’s budget, drawing DPP backlash

Weng Hsiao-ling is refusing to back down after proposing to delete and freeze the Presidential Office’s confidential affairs budget. The Kuomintang legislator has also warned that she intends to make deep cuts to next year’s central government budget.

Her stance has drawn a sharp response from Chuang Jui-hsiung, secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party’s legislative caucus. Chuang said the earlier budget cuts had left sheltered workshops across Taiwan facing the loss of orders, yet Weng had still not acknowledged the consequences.

Chuang portrayed Weng as an energetic and highly driven lawmaker who has made budget-cutting a defining political identity. He said she might see herself as fulfilling her duties, but argued that her decisions often hurt fellow Kuomintang members. He pointed to Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, legislator Cheng Li-wen and the Taichung city government as among those who would have to pay for or purchase what the cuts had affected.

“Fine,” Chuang said when asked about Weng’s promise to cut next year’s budget. He argued that budget review should not become a personal or emotional contest. Weng could not make such cuts alone, he said, because other Kuomintang lawmakers had to support or endorse her proposals.

Chuang accused the Kuomintang of closing its eyes and blindly backing individual lawmakers’ initiatives, allowing disputes to accumulate into a party culture. He said voters would judge every political decision and budget reduction, with the political cost of Weng’s actions ultimately falling on the Kuomintang.

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Fine.