The Ministry of National Defense (MND) plans to seek up to a record US$33 billion in special funding to upgrade the nation’s defenses against a potential Chinese attack, a senior lawmaker told AFP.
As Beijing ramps up its military pressure, Taiwan over the past few recent years has responded by boosting its defense spending, but Washington, Taipei’s biggest arms supplier, has been pushing it to do more.
The ministry is working on a special budget of between NT$800 billion and NT$1 trillion (US$26.4 billion and US$33.1 billion) over seven years, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said.
Photo: AP
The final amount has not been finalized, as Taiwan is negotiating with the US over potential arms sales that would be included in the special budget, Wang said.
“We want to build a complete defense ecology to defend our country,” Wang said, describing the plans as a “huge” upgrade to the nation’s self-defense capabilities.
Wang said the plans included integrating Taiwan’s air defense systems; acquiring from overseas partners more advanced technology to detect small drones, rockets and missiles, and ensure a rapid response to an attack; and increasing the nation’s capacity to produce and store ammunition for wartime.
“China is developing their fifth-generation fighters and they’re using stealth technology in all kinds of drones or missiles,” said Wang, who sits on the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defence Committee. “So we need more advanced sensor systems, more advanced radar systems — if you cannot detect it, all kinds of fire units are useless.”
Wang’s remarks came as Taiwan seeks to strike a deal with the US to reduce US President Donald Trump’s 20 percent tariff on the nation’s shipments.
Last month, President William Lai’s (賴清德) government announced plans to increase next year’s defense budget to NT$949.5 billion, or more than 3 percent of GDP. It aims to increase spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2030.
Asked if he hoped the special defense budget plans would help Taiwan in the trade negotiations, Wang replied: “Yes.”
If the Cabinet approves the spending plan, it would have to be passed by the opposition-controlled legislature before it can take effect. Wang said he hoped the opposition parties would support the special budget proposal because it was for “our survival.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Huang Jen (黃仁), cochair of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, said if the budget were submitted to the legislature, the party’s caucus would “definitely discuss it before making a decision.”
“We understand the enemy threat and pressure from the US, but given limited resources, the key is how to spend money effectively,” Huang said.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the state-run Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said Taiwan urgently needed to strengthen its air defenses.
“Beyond the threat of drones, China currently patrols the waters around Taiwan with about eight warships, each carrying roughly 60 vertical launch system cells,” Su said. “These vessels could launch 500-plus cruise missiles, conduct surprise attacks and reach Taiwan’s critical military facilities in approximately three minutes, creating a new missile crisis.”
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