Taiwan parliament approves military drone spending, but rejects special budget

Taiwan's opposition-controlled parliament voted ​on Thursday to spend ​T$40 billion ($1.26 billion) on military ‌drones annually, ​but rejected a government plan for a special budget of T$210 billion to ‌run until 2031. The government said its plan to buy about 210,000 drones, could not wait, as the Ukraine and Iran wars showed ‌the importance of uncrewed weapons in modern warfare amid a ‌rising threat from China, which sees the island as its own territory.

But the opposition voted through its own proposals, which amount to T$240 billion over ⁠six years, ​drawn from ⁠the annual budget, with annual spending set at T$40 billion in principle, though it ⁠can be increased if needed. Asked by reporters at parliament after the ​vote whether he would sign the legislation into law, Premier ⁠Cho Jung-tai said the question was not whether the government was satisfied.

"What I ⁠want ​to look at is whether the relevant bill that got passed meets the needs of the nation, and whether ⁠it meets the various needs for our defence self-reliance and for developing the ⁠entire ⁠drone and unmanned vehicle industry," he said. "We will carefully consider this matter with regard to national needs and ‌national ‌security."