A delay in approving the general budget this year threatens NT$78 billion (US$2.44 billion) in weapons procurement, maintenance and training, a senior Ministry of National Defense official said today.
Defense spending is set to increase by 22.9 percent to NT$949.5 billion this year, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration said in August last year.
At 3.32 percent of gross domestic product, the figure would cross the 3 percent threshold for the first time since 2009, government figures showed.
Photo: CNA
The government has said it needs to spend more to deter China from attacking Taiwan, and the US has backed the budget increase.
However the Legislative Yuan, which is controlled by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party, has stalled passing the general budget, as well as a separate proposal for NT$1.25 trillion in extra military spending over eight years, saying that while it supports more defense expenditure, it would not sign "blank checks."
The delay means the ministry would not be able to execute 21 percent of this year's general budget under the original schedule, affecting NT$78 billion in spending, Yen Ming-teh (嚴明德), head of the ministry's budgeting department, told a news conference.
That includes spending on programs such as the US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, as well as on Javelin missile procurement and replenishment, Yen said.
The delay would also affect follow-on training for Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets, he said.
"In response to the enemy threat, strengthening national defense capabilities cannot be delayed," Yen said. "Any delay in timing will cause irreversible negative effects."
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on allies to spend more on defense — a call the Lai administration has endorsed.
Taiwan is to hold the tabletop part of its annual Han Kuang military drills from Saturday next week to April 24, with the live part of the drills likely to take place in July.
The tabletop exercises would incorporate "recent international military operations as important references," Tung Chi-hsing (董冀星), director of the ministry’s Joint Operations Planning Division, told the same news conference.
That not only includes US and Israeli operations against Iran, but also US operations in Venezuela, Tung said, referring to the US military seizing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a January raid.
Lessons Taiwan has drawn include early warning and immediate response, how to counter drones, the use of layered air defenses and anti-infiltration operations, Tung said.
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