Taipei, Taiwan - Taiwan's opposition-controlled parliament on Friday stalled the government's proposed $6.6 billion in spending on domestically made drones that could be used to defend the island against a potential Chinese attack.

President Lai Ching-Te's government has been at loggerheads for months with the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) over how much to spend on improving the island's defense capabilities against China.

In May, Taiwan's parliament finally passed a deadlocked defense bill that had been championed by US officials for months. Due to intervention from the KMT and TPP, however, the bill's value was downgraded from $40 billion to $25 billion.

Lai's government now wants to allocate up to $6.6 billion, over more than five years, for Taiwan-made unmanned vehicles, including coastal surveillance, attack, and surface drones.

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These efforts were once again hampered by the KMT and TPP parliamentary majority, which on Friday refused to consider the bill.

KMT lawmaker Hsu Yu-chen said the party "supports the development of the unmanned systems and drone industry" and will propose its own version.

"We hope all sides can discuss the different versions once they are proposed," Hsu told the AFP.

Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee said "efforts towards defense self-reliance and the development of critical national industrial [supply] chains should not be obstructed by politics."

Chung Chia-pin, a lawmaker for Lai's Democratic Progressive Party, criticized the opposition for holding up the bill.

"If next week or the week after they come up with their own version, will they agree at that point to allow other versions to be put under review as well?" he asked AFP.

"If that happens it will only further prove that they are laggards and cheaters," he said. "They haven't even stepped up to the starting line, but they won't let anyone else run either."