Taiwan will spend more than one-fifth of its defense budget next year on the development of indigenous weapons, in line with the government’s policy of strengthening national security, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
In the government’s proposals for next year’s national budget, defense spending is to increase by NT$18.3 billion (US$597.5 million) from the previous year to NT$346 billion, which represents 2.16 percent of the nation’s GDP, Tsai said.
Of the total defense budget, NT$73.6 billion, or 21.3 percent, is to be spent on developing indigenous defense systems, an increase of NT$25 billion, as part of the effort to broaden the nation’s warfare capability, she said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The proposals also include NT$95.1 billion for military investment, an increase of NT$13.9 billion from the previous year, Tsai said during the unveiling of a plaque at Navy Command Headquarters.
The plaque, which bears the inscription “New Navy Sets Sail,” symbolizes the beginning of a new era for the navy, during which it will use domestically built submarines, Tsai said, referring to the nation’s ongoing construction of defense submarines.
Since the late 1980s, when Taiwan bought two Dutch-built Zwaardvis-class diesel submarines, it has had difficulty procuring others and had been planning to build its own, Tsai said.
However, because of the challenges facing the nation, the idea got stuck until she came to office in 2016.
“Faced with such challenges, we should try to resolve them, instead of recoiling in fear,” she said.
The administration has been integrating resources from industry, academia, government and international partners to push its program forward, she said.
“Step by step, we have been making progress in resolving the bottlenecks in innovation and manufacturing,” Tsai said.
In related developments, a defense official on Sunday said that the construction costs for the first three mass-produced Tuo Jiang-class corvettes would be increased from NT$14.4 billion to NT$16.1 billion.
The navy plans to follow the class’ lead ship, the Tuo Jiang PG-618, with three anti-aircraft Flight I ships and five anti-ship and anti-submarine Flight II ships by 2025, in addition to Flight III ships whose specifications and production schedule are not yet known.
Due to adjustments to the hull design, the ships would have a projected displacement of 700 tonnes compared with the Tuo Jiang’s 567 tonnes.
Navy Command last week appointed the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology to oversee the construction program of the three Flight I ships, which is to be implemented by select contractors, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Flight I Tuo Jiang-class corvette armaments are to consist of Tien Chien II (TC-2) surface-to-air missiles, while the Flight IIs would be a mix of Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III cruise missiles.
Additionally, the navy has made strides in the indigenous submarine program after the US Department of State in April authorized US firms to export submarine technology to Taiwan, the official said.
The granting of licenses enabled US firms to cut out intermediaries and deal with the Taiwanese government directly, the official said.
The administration has been briefed by six international corporations from the US, the EU, Japan and India in connection with their offers of technical assistance for the submarine program, the official said.
An Indian firm has invited navy officers and CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) representatives to visit its facilities in-country, the official added.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS