TAIPEI, April 2 (Reuters) – A delay in approving Taiwan’s budget this year threatens T$78 billion ($2.44 billion) in weapons procurement, maintenance and training, a senior defence ministry official said on Thursday.
Defence spending is set to increase by 22.9% to T$949.5 billion in 2026, President Lai Ching-te’s administration said in August. At 3.32% of gross domestic product, the figure will cross the 3% threshold for the first time since 2009, government figures showed.
The government has said it needs to spend more to deter China, which claims sovereignty over the island and which has raised military pressure such as by holding war games. The United States has backed the budget increase.
But the opposition-dominated parliament has stalled passing the budget, as well as a separate proposal for $40 billion in extra military spending, saying that while it supports more defence expenditure, it will not sign “blank cheques”.
The delay means the ministry will not be able to execute 21% of this year’s budget under the original schedule, affecting T$78 billion in spending, Yen Ming-teh, head of the defence ministry’s budgeting department, said at a news conference.
That includes spending on programmes such as the U.S.-made HIMARS – High Mobility Artillery Rocket System – as well as on Javelin missile procurement and replenishment, Yen said.
The delay will also have an impact on follow-on training for Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets, he said.
“In response to the enemy threat, strengthening national defence capabilities cannot be delayed,” Yen said. “Any delay in timing will cause irreversible negative effects.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on allies to spend more on defence – a call the Lai administration has endorsed.
TAIWAN DRILLS
Taiwan will hold the “table top” part of its annual Han Kuang military drills from April 11-24, with the live part of the drills likely to take place in July.
Tung Chi-hsing, head of the ministry’s joint operations planning department, told the same news conference that the table top exercises will incorporate “recent international military operations as important references”.
That not only includes U.S. and Israeli operations against Iran, but also U.S. operations in Venezuela, Tung said, referring to the U.S. military seizing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a January raid.
Lessons Taiwan has drawn include early warning and immediate response, how to counter drones, the use of layered air defences and anti-infiltration operations, Tung said.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan’s democratically elected government rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
($1 = 31.9580 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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