The opposition’s proposal to repurpose NT$150 billion (US$5.2 billion) of the special budget, previously allocated for whole-of-society defense resilience, as cash handouts was “completely unacceptable and irresponsible,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.
The Legislative Yuan is today to decide how to allocate the NT$410 billion special budget approved by the Cabinet to enhance national security and boost economic resilience in the face of US tariffs.
However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed using NT$150 billion of that budget for NT$10,000 cash handouts, which the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said was a bid to swing the upcoming recall votes targeting KMT lawmakers.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
Speaking at a news conference after a meeting at the Executive Yuan in Taipei, Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Cho as saying that slashing the budget would burden the public with the cost of maintaining basic supplies and homeland security — duties the government ought to bear.
The national budget must be seen as a whole, and there must be no gaps in the national security network, she quoted him as saying.
The DPP said that the proposal by the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party would sacrifice Taiwan’s national security, economic stability and international standing.
That is exactly how the opposition “sells out Taiwan,” the DPP said.
The NT$150 billion is intended to be used to improve defense storage capabilities, cybersecurity and maritime surveillance, said DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), a member of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Scrapping the budget would send the wrong message to the international community and could cause Taiwan to face sanctions, while dealing with tariffs and origin fraud, he added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement that it would use NT$115.1 billion of the budget to build mobile and backup information and communications infrastructure to be used by the military and civilians.
That would include expanding satellite leases, updating servers, establishing cloud-based mobile information networks, and bolstering cybersecurity defense, it said.
Mobile command posts and microwave technology would also be implemented in all combat zones and in Wuciou Township (烏坵) in Kinmen County, the ministry said.
A shared information and intelligence platform would then be built using radar data provided by the Coast Guard Administration, the army and the navy, it said.
The budget would also be used to improve emergency repair capabilities for fiber optic networks to ensure stable communications and that connections can be restored swiftly after disruptions, it added.
The military also seeks to enhance preparedness by increasing stockpiles of spare parts, fuel and drinking water, while upgrading storage facilities and engineering equipment, the ministry said.
The initiatives would improve the military’s ability to respond to China’s “gray zone” tactics and sustain operations, it said.
Military training grounds would be upgraded to meet increasing needs for new equipment, reserve forces and wartime simulation training programs, it said.
The annual budget alone is insufficient to counter possible threats amid regional instability and intimidation, the ministry said.
The special budget is required to concentrate resources, prioritize construction and enable rapid procurement, which in turn, enables Taiwan to maintain military strength at critical moments, stimulate the domestic economy, and build a safe and resilient nation, it added.
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
J-6 REMODEL: The converted drones are part of Beijing’s expanding mix of airpower weapons, including bombers with stand-off missiles and UAV swarms, the report said China has stationed obsolete supersonic fighters converted to attack drones at six air bases close to the Taiwan Strait, a report published this month by the Arlington, Virginia-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies said. Satellite imagery of the airfields from the institute’s “China Airpower Tracker” shows what appear to be lines of stubby, swept-winged aircraft matching the shape of J-6 fighters that first flew with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in the 1960s. Since their conversion to drones, the aircraft have been identified at five bases in China’s Fujian Province and one in Guangdong Province, the report said. J.
RSS