The Ministry of National Defense is working on a special budget to bolster the nation’s defense, but the details and amount has yet to be determined, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said yesterday, adding that rumors that the budget would be NT$700 billion (US$23.31 billion) are not true.
The special budget is being developed for two reasons: to bolster national defense in light of the growing Chinese threat against Taiwan, and to build up the nation’s defense and security networks with democratic allies.
The budget would be implemented over seven years and would grow Taiwan’s defense capabilities exponentially, he said
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
The special budget would also help implement President William Lai’s (賴清德) policy to increase defense spending to 3 percent of GDP or more, he said.
Taiwan seeks to establish a multi-layered anti-air defense system similar to Israel’s “Iron Dome” to protect key national facilities, he added.
The budget also seeks to bolster the nation’s asymmetric warfare capabilities and deter a Chinese invasion by ensuring that Chinese forces would encounter a “hellscape” in the event of an attack, he said.
The budget also aims to bolster ammunition manufacturing and equipment storage, he added.
It would also procure equipment and utilize artificial intelligence technology to increase the nation’s ability to surveil and monitor threats originating from China, Ting said.
Asked to comment on US Senator Lindsey Graham’s statement that China is watching how the summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin goes and “if it ends in a way that looks like that Putin’s overly rewarded, there goes Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) said the issue is hypothetical as talks are ongoing.
The ministry would not seek war, but would be well-prepared for such possibility, he said.
Asked about former US deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger’s comments that Taiwan should restart its decommissioned nuclear power plants to ensure energy security, Po said the issue is being discussed as part of the efforts to increase whole-of-society defense resilience.
Separately, Lai yesterday said the ministry plans to present another special budget for equipment procurement to bolster Taiwan’s asymmetric combat capabilities and create opportunities for a burgeoning domestic market for national defense.
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