The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed a NT$236.96 billion (US$8.56 billion) special budget to procure weaponry over the next five years, with the aim of enhancing the nation’s defenses against rising Chinese aggression.
The majority, to be distributed over five years and fully financed through borrowing, would go toward weapons procurements, while NT$89.69 million is to be set aside for logistics and oversight.
The final amount was on Monday adjusted down by NT$310 million during cross-party negotiations, cutting NT$300 million from the weapons allocation and NT$10 million from the logistics allocation.
Photo: CNA
Funding is to mainly go toward domestically produced armaments, especially precision missiles, high-performance warships and weapons systems for coast guard vessels.
Eight types of weapon systems are permitted: shore-based anti-ship missiles, field and ground-based air defense systems, uncrewed aerial vehicles, air-to-ground and surface-to-surface cruise missile systems, high-performance submarines and coast guard weapon systems.
The production of the Taiwan-made Tien Kung (Sky Bow), Tien Chien (Sky Sword) and Hsiung Feng (Brave Wind) series of missiles is also supported.
Under the budget authorization bill, the Ministry of National Defense is required to submit a progress report to the legislature every May that includes spending plans for the coming year.
Prioritizing locally made equipment creates a “win-win situation” for national security and the economy, the Executive Yuan said.
It is the fourth special budget passed under President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). A special budget is not constrained by spending restrictions placed on the regular budget.
It also comes on top of a record annual defense budget of NT$471.7 billion for this fiscal year.
The Cabinet in September last year proposed an authorization bill for the special budget with the goal of safeguarding national sovereignty against “severe threats” posed by China.
The legislature passed the bill on Nov. 23 last year, authorizing the Cabinet to draw up a special budget of up to NT$240 billion for weapons purchases until 2026.
The Cabinet then drafted a special budget and sent it to the legislature for approval, but it stagnated in cross-party negotiations due to an opposition boycott over alleged government partiality in campaigning against the referendums held on Dec. 18.
To pass important bills left after the regular session ended on Dec. 31, the Democratic Progressive Party caucus called an extraordinary session that started on Wednesday last week and is to continue until Jan. 28.
During cross-party negotiations on Monday, a consensus was reportedly reached on most items and legislators across party lines expressed support for enhancing national defense capabilities.
Several resolutions were also passed affirming the importance of researching, developing and procuring arms to keep the nation secure; calling on contractors and manufacturers to protect defense secrets; and suggesting that the ministry conduct security assessments of related personnel and manufacturers.
A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators also passed a resolution advising more judicious use of special budgets.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS