The Cabinet has proposed special defense budgets totaling NT$117.6 billion (US$3.85 billion) to boost military spending beyond the limits of the general budget, amid expectations that US President Donald Trump’s administration would approve additional arms sales to Taiwan next year, experts said on Thursday.
The special budget would bring spending on defense to NT$949.5 billion, equivalent to 3.32 percent of GDP.
The NT$117.6 billion figure comprises three special budgets, including NT$7.6 billion proposed by the Coast Guard Administration. The remainder is to be earmarked under the Homeland Security Resilience Special Budget and the Foreign Military Sales Special Budget, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics official Hsu Yung-yi (許永議) said, without providing further details, as the budgets remain under Cabinet review.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-run Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the Ministry of National Defense general budget increase is limited, making the use of special budgets a natural way to meet arms procurement needs.
The special budgets could fund the production of the seven planned indigenous defense submarines, the procurement of drones from the US and local manufacturers, as well as the development of domestically made uncrewed surface vehicles, Su said.
The special budgets are likely to also include funds to purchase E-2D airborne early warning aircraft and M109A7 self-propelled howitzers from the US, he added.
Su expressed hope that the special defense budgets would prioritize domestically produced weapons — in line with the military’s Sea-Air Combat Power Improvement Plan — to stimulate the defense industry and broader economic growth.
National Taiwan University Department of Political Science associate professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民) said the sale of significant platforms such as M1A2T main battle tanks and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, which Taiwan recently received, were approved during Trump’s first term.
Although the Trump administration has not announced new military sales to Taiwan, the government is confident that additional arms packages would be forthcoming and is preparing for them through special defense budgets, Chen said.
With the 2027 “Davidson window” approaching, there is a high probability that the US would sell advanced weapons to Taiwan next year, he said.
The term “Davidson window” comes from then-US Indo-Pacific Command commander Philip Davidson’s 2021 testimony to the US Congress, in which he said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027
Davidson’s assessment has since been reiterated by several US officials, including US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
RSS