Lawmakers reject Cabinet drone bill, pass own instead

The legislature yesterday rejected the Executive Yuan’s NT$210 billion (US$6.62 billion) special budget proposal to buy military drones and instead passed its own plan, which earmarks NT$40 billion per year over six consecutive years.

The Executive Yuan said its plan to buy about 210,000 drones by 2031 could not wait, as the wars in Ukraine and Iran showed the importance of uncrewed systems in modern warfare amid a rising threat from China.

However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their opposition majority to pass a bill providing NT$240 billion through annual budgets over six years, with annual spending of NT$40 billion to be budgeted each year in principle and increases allowed if needed.

The lawmakers designated the Ministry of Economic Affairs as the competent authority, except for military procurement, which would fall under the Ministry of National Defense’s authority.

Asked whether he would countersign the legislation, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said the bill needs to be carefully reviewed.

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

The defense ministry expressed regret that the Executive Yuan version of the bill was not passed, saying it had been formulated after “in-depth” internal assessments and coordinated with “allied nations,” which it did not name.

KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) told the legislature shortly before voting began that the government “cannot simply come asking for money every time without any oversight.”

The opposition’s proposals would ensure proper supervision of drone spending, she said.

Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) has previously said that an annual spending cap of NT$40 billion would prevent Taiwan from effectively building up drone combat capabilities, as the ministry already planned to spend NT$42.1 billion on drones next year alone.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said after the vote that given how the opposition delayed passage of this year’s general budget by months, there were no guarantees of how smooth the process would be for next year.

“If the total budget review gets delayed again, I think this creates enormous uncertainty not only for industry development but, more importantly, for urgent national defense needs,” she said.

The legislature this month passed separate drone-related spending plans aimed at developing the industry.

DPP caucus chief executive Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said the opposition bill’s mandate to establish a special committee on drone development and to have legislative caucuses recommend academics and experts for appointment to it contravened the authority of the executive branch.

Party-recommended committee members could allow politics to override defense expertise, he said.

The fixed annual allocations and mandatory meetings every six months would rob the military of the flexibility it needs to build a drone fleet, he said.

DPP Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said party-caucus recommendations for committee memberships could make members targets of Chinese infiltration efforts, while mandatory reports on major procurements to the legislature could put military secrets at risk.

The TPP caucus said in a statement that the KMT had insisted on limiting the annual budget to NT$40 billion.

KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) said his party’s support for national defense and the development of the drone sector is unwavering.

“The party cannot possibly support the Executive Yuan’s bill to give the government the power to write blank checks,” he said.

Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s Defense Strategy and Resources Division, said the bill is a good first step for national defense, but its design is flawed.

The special committee’s composition includes too many party-recommended members who would dilute the body’s credibility and expertise, while its procedures could pose a significant risk to secrecy, he said.

A fire and subsequent explosion in a residential area in Tainan early yesterday injured 15 people and damaged 68 homes, the Tainan City Fire Bureau said. The bureau said it received a report at 1:12am yesterday that a pile of waste in a vacant lot in Annan District’s (安南) Haidian Road had caught fire and exploded, adding that it dispatched 144 firefighters and 53 firetrucks to battle the blaze and evacuate nearby residents.

It took more than four hours to extinguish the fire, it said. The incident damaged 11 privately owned vehicles, as well as eight fire engines, one ambulance and two disaster

DELUGE: The Tainan City Government requested five mobile water pumps from the central government to supplement the 511 pumps it had already prepared Torrential rain caused by the combined effects of southwesterly winds and a low-pressure belt battered southern Taiwan yesterday, causing widespread flooding across Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County. More than 2,300 people were evacuated as authorities warned of continued heavy rain through tomorrow.

Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County yesterday announced that work and classes would remain suspended today for the second consecutive day amid heavy rain and flooding. Chiayi, Hualien and Taitung counties later last night also announced that work and classes would be canceled today. The Kaohsiung City Government said it expected cumulative rainfall over the five-day period of the low-pressure system to

A US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace on Friday, in a move the US 7th Fleet said “demonstrates the US’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” The Chinese military tracked and monitored the patrol and reconnaissance aircraft throughout the transit, the state-backed Global Times newspaper reported, citing a military source, saying the “situation was under control.”

US military ships or aircraft pass through or above the waterway that separates Taiwan from China every few months. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is expected to visit the US next month to meet US President Donald Trump as Washington

‘ALARMING’: Many of the officers being investigated were rising military stars, with good service records and grades in the military academy, anonymous sources said Law enforcement officials have broadened a probe into a suspected network of Chinese spies, after the Kaohsiung branch of the High Court on Wednesday convicted two former military service members on espionage and corruption charges. The court sentenced an ex-army sergeant surnamed Fang (方) to 10 years and four months in prison and an ex-air force sergeant surnamed Huang (黃) to seven years in prison.

The verdict may be appealed. Fang and Huang were found guilty of passing military secrets to China and attempting to turn their colleagues into Chinese spies as members of Wo Long Hui (臥龍會, “Crouching Dragon Society”), an