The military appears to be scaling up its reserves due to concern over a possible Chinese invasion in 2027, including a 25 percent increase in the Ministry of National Defense’s budget to NT$133.7 billion (US$4.33 billion) for fiscal 2023, National Policy Foundation associate research fellow Chieh Chung (揭仲) said on Friday.
Another budget item, purchases of ammunition, is to rise to NT$8 billion, just shy of a four-fold increase from fiscal 2021, showing that the military is stepping up reserves to prepare for a potential protracted campaign on Taiwan proper without foreign aid, Chieh said.
The NT$1.92 billion to purchase ammunition, including missiles for shoulder-launched anti-armor weapons, indicates that the ministry is preparing to fight on Taiwan proper, he said.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The ministry has budgeted NT$4 billion to purchase foreign arms, with the most significant portion designated for 30mm autocannon ammunition, he said.
The military is also setting aside funds to replenish equipment for ground forces, he said.
Taiwan’s ground forces have long lacked adequate equipment, with some only existing only on paper due to a long-term lack of funding for maintenance, Chieh said.
In addition to the standard NT$600 million to replenish personal combat gear for ground forces, the army is also to spend NT$1.75 billion to augment reserves of safety and combat components, and NT$4.6 billion to improve the bullet resistance of helmets, combat vests and other personal gear, he said.
The army has also budgeted NT$790 million for repairs of reservist equipment, restocking and other projects to ameliorate a severe shortage of equipment for reservists, a move that it hopes would shorten their time to mobilization, Chieh said.
However, there is a shortage of personnel in the reservist command, and planning needs to take place to increase the number of recall drills, so it remains to be seen if the reservist command can maintain the equipment it plans to buy properly, he said.
Maintenance expenses at the Air Force Command Headquarters for planes, anti-air equipment, telecommunications, radar systems, engineering and other support equipment have increased by NT$720 million to NT$19.2 billion in fiscal 2023, Chieh said.
The air force’s expenditure for F-16 components, budgeted at NT$950 million, has increased at least fourfold compared with fiscal 2022, he said, adding that the navy’s components and maintenance expenditure has also increased by NT$1.55 billion, or 26 percent, to NT$7.45 billion.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS