Taiwan’s opposition parties on Friday jointly proposed a $780 billion New Taiwan dollar ($24.8 billion) defense procurement bill that competes with the government’s NTD 1.25 trillion ($40 billion) special defense budget, escalating pressure on the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as the legislature prepares to vote on crucial defense spending legislation.
The main opposition party, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and its smaller ally the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) said their version covers U.S. arms already approved by Washington, with NTD 300 billion for already-announced arms sales, and NTD 480 billion reserved for a second batch of arms sales, including Patriot missiles and anti-drone systems, once a new letter offer and acceptance, or LOA, is provided by Washington.
“We strongly support arms procurements from the U.S.,” KMT caucus leader Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said at a press conference after his party’s caucus meeting.
Wang An-hsiang (王安祥), the TPP’s caucus leader, explained that although the amount for the first batch is less than NTD 320 billion, after careful calculations, the confirmed amounts for the first and second batches are NTD 300 billion and NTD 480 billion. “If we want to provide a total amount, the total budget is NTD 780 billion.”
Multiple current and former U.S. officials have warned that a special defense package that does not immediately procure more than NTD 800 billion is dangerously low.
The ruling DPP argues the government’s NT1.25 trillion special defense budget is the “most comprehensive” and essential for Taiwan’s long-term defense, including domestic weapons development and a multilayered air-defense system called the T-Dome.
Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan will vote on the opposition’s NTD 780 bill and the government’s NTD 1.25 trillion bill on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
“All the options will be voted on, whichever bill receives a majority vote, then that becomes the new special defense bill,” a DPP aide told Domino Theory. “But the KMT might still make some last-minute changes. They have an advantage on headcount.”
The vote comes as President Donald Trump prepares to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) later this month, with Taiwan expected to be a central topic.
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