Taiwan's Parliament Approves $25 Bn Defense Spending Bill
Opposition lawmakers backed only U.S. weapons purchases and tied future funding to Washington approval, leaving out Taiwan-made drones and other local defense projects.
- On Friday, Taiwan's parliament approved a $25 billion defense spending bill, ending months of political wrangling. The legislation mandates funds be used exclusively for US arms purchases.
- President Lai Ching-te's government initially proposed a nearly $40 billion budget including Taiwan-made drones, but the Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party pushed for a lower $25 billion focused solely on imports.
- With 107 of 113 lawmakers present, the bill passed with 59 votes in favor; the special funds will be distributed over eight years supplementing the government's annual defense budget.
- Lawmaker Chen Kuan-ting of the Democratic Progressive Party accused the KMT of "trying to disarm Taiwan," while KMT lawmaker Hsu Chiao-hsin defended the party's support for "reasonable defence buildup."
- Chairperson Cheng Li-wun faces internal criticism for being too pro-China, as legislators remain divided on how best to defend against China's threat to forcibly seize the island.
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Taiwan's opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan passed a special defense budget on Friday (May 8) capped at NT$780 billion (approximately US$25 billion), roughly two-thirds of the amount requested by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government. Later that day, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that US policy remained unchanged and that maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait was essential.
This vote comes after months of confrontation in Parliament over the amount spent on defence, which is intended to buy US weapons, in a context of China's growing pressure on the Taipei regime.
Taiwan's Parliament approves $25 billion defence spending bill
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