Taiwan president urges parliament to pass defence budget

​Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Wednesday urged the opposition-controlled parliament to pass his $40 billion ​special defence budget, which has been stalled by lawmakers, ​saying given the ⁠rising threat level strengthening the military cannot wait. Lai last year proposed ​the defence boost ‌to counter China, which views the island as its own territory. But parliament has instead ​advanced its own, less expensive proposals, which only fund some U.S. weapons. The main opposition party Kuomintang (KMT), whose vice chairman visited Beijing ‌last ‌week, said it ​supports defence spending but will not sign “blank cheques” and has a right to fully scrutinise the legislation, blaming Lai for the impasse. Speaking to ​reporters at the presidential office, Lai said he had never asked lawmakers to pass the spending unconditionally, reiterating that the government ​was happy to provide detailed explanation on its plans. “I want to emphasise: political parties may compete, and po