The Executive Yuan yesterday advanced a NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.89 billion) special defense budget bill announced by President William Lai (賴清德) a day earlier, explicitly citing “military threats from the Chinese Communist Party” (CCP) for the first time.
Article 1 of the bill says that the proposed law would counter sustained growth of the CCP’s military threats by acquiring weapons and equipment to enhance the armed forces’ defensive resilience and asymmetric capabilities.
That would include building a “Taiwan dome” air-defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities using high-tech systems and artificial intelligence to accelerate the kill chain, and building a “non-red” supply chain by investing in the national defense industry, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) urged opposition parties to back the bill, stressing the need to improve self-defense amid rising Chinese threats.
Given the military coercion of Beijing, the government has a responsibility to show its determination to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty, Cho said.
The bill is to be sent to the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan for review.
The opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party have said that the budget would rely heavily on debt financing, and would lead to cuts to social welfare, education and other programs.
The parties said that they would scrutinize the plan to ensure tax funds are used responsibly.
The bill lists seven major procurement categories: precision artillery; long-range precision-strike missiles; uncrewed vehicles and anti-drone systems; air-defense, anti-ballistic missile and anti-armor missile systems; artificial intelligence-assisted systems; equipment to enhance sustained combat endurance; and systems jointly developed or procured with the US.
The spending is to be funded through special budgets and would not be subject to Article 23 the Budget Act (預算法) that restricts use of capital for recurrent expenditures, the bill says.
Funding can be drawn from prior-year budget surpluses or raised through borrowing, with annual borrowing limits exempted from restrictions under Article 5-7 of the Public Debt Act (公共債務法).
The special ordinance and special budgets would take effect on the date of promulgation and remain in force until Dec. 31, 2033.
Separately, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that Taiwan has already held preliminary talks with the US about what weapons it wants to buy as part of the budget.
Purchases from the US naturally constitute a significant part of the spending plans, Koo said.
Taiwan has formally obtained from the US Department of Defense the procurement item quantities, pricing information, transaction timelines and other details, showing that the US is willing to provide the weapons, he said, adding that no details can be revealed before a formal notification to the US Congress.
The budget would also generate 90,000 jobs and bring a direct economic benefit to Taiwan of NT$400 billion, Koo said.
Additional reporting by Reuters and CNA
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