The Executive Yuan yesterday proposed NT$415.1 billion (US$13.75 billion) in defense spending for next year, a double-digit increase from this year that includes funds for new fighter jets, weeks after China staged large-scale military exercises around the nation.
China carried out its largest-ever war games around Taiwan after a visit this month by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The overall defense budget proposed by the Cabinet would increase 13.9 percent year-on-year to a record NT$586.3 billion.
Photo: CNA
That includes an additional NT$108.3 billion for fighter jets and other equipment, as well as “special funds” for the defense ministry.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) did not provide a specific breakdown of where the money would go.
The planned defense spending, which is a record high and must be approved by the Legislative Yuan, marks the nation’s sixth consecutive year of growth in defense spending since 2017.
The double-digit rise this year marks a sharp increase compared with its annual growth rate of below 4 percent since 2017.
DGBAS Minister Chu Tzer-ming (朱澤民) said the increase would mainly go to operational costs.
“We always give safety and national security the top priority ... that’s why [the budget for] operational costs has sharply increased,” Chu said, pointing to costs such as fuel and maintenance for aircraft and ships dispatched to counter Chinese military activity near Taiwan.
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a statement that the budget gave full consideration to the “enemy threat” and was equivalent to 2.4 percent of Taiwan’s projected GDP for next year.
“In the face of the Chinese communists’ continuous expansion of targeted military activities in recent years and the normalized use of warships and military aircraft to raid and disturb Taiwan’s surrounding seas and airspace, the military adheres to the principle of preparing for war without seeking war and defending national security with strength,” it said.
Excluding the extra budget for military equipment and funds, the proposed defense spending represents a 12.9 percent year-on-year increase, compared with a 20.8 percent increase in the overall government budget proposed for next year.
The proposed spending would account for 14.6 percent of the government’s total expenditure for next year and is the fourth-largest segment, after social welfare, combined spending on education, science and culture, and economic development.
Taiwan last year announced an extra defense budget of US$8.69 billion by 2026, which comes on top of its yearly military spending, mostly on naval weapons, including missiles and warships.
China has continued its military activities near Taiwan, though on a reduced scale. On Wednesday it announced that live-fire drills would take place in a coastal part of China’s Fujian Province today and on Saturday, just north of the tiny Taiwan-controlled Wuchiu Island (烏坵) in the Taiwan Strait.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research analyst Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) yesterday said that the MND had included special funds in its calculations of the country’s defense spending in relation to GDP, which is not the typical way such figures are derived.
The government should prioritize defense spending over other considerations in light of the clear and present danger facing the nation, he added.
Countries that face significant external threats to national security — such as Israel and South Korea — typically spend between 2.8 percent and 3.2 percent of their GDP on defense, which shows that Taiwan’s military budget has room for growth, he said.
Specifically, the MND should increase military spending to about NT$480 billion per year and set its sights on eventually using 3 percent of GDP for national defense annually, he said.
“The value of time should be factored into discussions about budget costs,” he said. “If the military does not receive funding when it is needed, we can end up paying more for the lost time.”
Additional reporting by Aaron Tu
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS