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.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
RSS