The Executive Yuan today advanced a NT$1.25-trillion (US$39.9 billion) special defense budget plan announced by President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday, explicitly citing “military threats from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)” for the first time.
Article 1 of the bill states that the law is being enacted to counter the sustained growth of the CCP’s military threats by acquiring weapons and equipment that would enhance the armed forces’ defensive resilience and asymmetric capabilities.
This would include building a “Taiwan dome,” an air defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities, using high-tech systems and artificial intelligence to speed up 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
The bill lists seven major procurement categories: precision artillery; long-range precision-strike missiles; unmanned vehicles and counter-unmanned systems; air-defense, anti-ballistic missile and anti-armor missile systems; artificial intelligence-assisted command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems; equipment to enhance sustained combat endurance and equipment; and systems jointly developed or procured with the US.
Taiwan should strengthen its resolve and capacity for self-defense to counter China’s military expansion, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) told a press conference this morning.
The total spending is to be funded through special budgets and not to be subject to Article 23 of the Budget Act (預算法) that restricts the use of capital for recurrent expenditures, according to the bill.
Required funding may 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 are to take effect on the date of promulgation and remain in force until Dec. 31, 2033.
If any contracted programs remain unexecuted by that date, the Executive Yuan may approve limited extensions solely for contract fulfillment and final payment phases, while no new procurement items may be added.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS