Defense spending has become a contentious issue in Taiwan. The Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), which together control the legislature, continue to be at odds with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over the issue. In particular, the pan-Blue and pan-Green camps are now in conflict over a NT$210 million (US$6.6 million) special budget for drones that President Lai Ching-te hopes to pass.
The Lai administration had hoped to purchase 208,200 coastal attack drones, 1,446 coastal reconnaissance drones, and 1,320 uncrewed surface vessels using the special budget. This seems to indicate rising interest in maritime drones; there was relatively more discussion of unmanned aerial vehicles in the past. This proposal, however, was blocked by the KMT and TPP. Their legislators did not allow the bill to proceed to committee review.
Instead, the KMT and TPP eventually produced their own version of bills that would provide spending on drones. The KMT’s version of the bill would divide NT$240 million in spending over six years, while requiring any procurement above NT$100 million to include a written report to the legislature with details on progress and implementation. The bill also specified local content for drones at 50 percent in two years and 80 percent in four years. The TPP’s version of the bill, on the other hand, puts drone funding under the annual budget but does not have any overall cap. Both versions of the bill have supply chain checks, as well as other oversight measures.
