Opposition lawmakers freeze part of domestic submarine program budget

Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) Opposition lawmakers on Monday passed a motion to freeze half of the funding proposed for 2025 to continue work on a fleet of indigenous defense submarines (IDS) until an IDS prototype passes a required sea acceptance test (SAT) this year.

The motion passed at the Legislative Yuan by a 56-46 margin, with 11 lawmakers not in attendance, including eight currently in the United States to attend U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

Lawmakers with the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and smaller opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) supported the freeze of half of the total NT$2 billion (US$61.01 million) budget, while ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators opposed it.

With the motion, NT$1 billion of the proposed NT$2 billion budget for the IDS fleet cannot be used by the Navy until the military briefs the lawmakers after the completion of the SATs of the IDS prototype, the Narwhal, also known as Hai Kun.

KMT lawmaker Wang Wen-chun (馬文君), one of the initiators of the motion, previously said the KMT would significantly cut or freeze the IDS budget because of serious delays in the program.

She also questioned if the prototype and IDS systems could meet Taiwan's defensive needs.

Monday's session of the Legislature was being held to review a number of motions proposed by the KMT and/or TPP to cut and/or freeze some of the government's budget proposals for fiscal year 2025, which is expected to clear the Legislative floor on Tuesday.

The Narwhal was unveiled in Kaohsiung in September 2023 and has currently completed about 80 percent of its harbor acceptance tests (HAT).

The next step in the process, the SAT, is expected to begin in April and conclude by October, before meeting the delivery deadline in November, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).

Other than the Narwhal prototype, the MND has also proposed building seven indigenous submarines from 2025 to 2038 at an estimated cost of NT$284 billion.