KMT Reverses Stance, Approves Drone Budget – Defense Stocks Surge – Chen Huiwen Calls for Investigation: Execute If Caught Stock Manipulation

The KMT caucus announced today (14th) that it will fully approve a NT$63.4 billion drone-related budget, sparking a significant surge in defense and drone-related stocks. Veteran media figure Chen Huiwen, on the program 'News in Plain Words,' questioned the KMT caucus’s sudden reversal—from initially proposing full deletion, then switching to full freezing, and finally approving the entire budget. He raised concerns about possible insider trading, noting that the public had no prior indication the budget would pass, and called for prosecutors to review trading records.

The KMT caucus decided to support the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ six-year, NT$44.2 billion 'Integrated Development Program for Unmanned Vehicle Industries,' along with NT$19.2 billion in procurement budgets allocated by various Executive Yuan agencies, totaling NT$63.4 billion. The budget has been excluded from the central government’s across-the-board 1.5% budget cut. The KMT stated that after verification, there were no concerns about duplicate budgeting, justifying the full approval.

Chen Huiwen stated on the show, 'Today in the Taipei stock market, defense stocks surged.' He then reviewed the KMT’s shifting stance, saying, 'The KMT initially wanted full deletion, right? Then they changed to full freezing. And today? Full approval.'

Chen held up that day’s newspaper, pointing out that reports still stated 'full freezing,' yet the KMT caucus abruptly decided to fully approve the budget. He argued that before the 14th, no one expected the drone budget to fully pass, making the simultaneous surge in defense stocks suspicious and warranting investigation into potential information asymmetry.

Chen questioned, 'Who engaged in insider trading? Was there insider trading?' Hypothetically, he said, 'If I were a KMT legislator and knew the budget would pass, I’d buy defense stocks a few days earlier—buy them quickly while prices are low.'

He further noted that if legislators had advance knowledge of the KMT’s policy reversal, they could have gained an unfair advantage over ordinary investors. Sarcastically, he added, 'What are we doing here? Just go buy stocks. So our first mission should be to become legislators, then manipulate defense stocks.'

Criticizing some KMT legislators who previously claimed the drone industry was too closely tied to the Green camp, Chen said, 'Didn’t you KMT legislators call it 'Green’s buddy' and trash it earlier?' He questioned whether the budget’s passage could guarantee contracts wouldn’t go to companies previously criticized by the KMT.

Finally, Chen emphasized that the investigation should not be limited to the KMT: 'I urge your (President Lai Qing-te’s) Investigation Bureau to check all legislators from the Blue, Green, and Taiwan People’s Party—anyone using this for stock manipulation. If found, execute them all.'