Special defense budget would boost Taiwan's wartime resilience: Minister

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) The NT$113.2 billion (US$3.47 billion) earmarked for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) under a proposed NT$550 billion special budget would extend Taiwan's wartime reserves from 30 days to 120 days if approved by the Legislature, Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said Thursday.

The budget, revealed by the Cabinet that day, includes provisions to strengthen the military's communications systems, upgrade and maintain facilities and infrastructure and bolster maritime defense.

The Legislative Yuan in August passed a special provision allowing the government to draft a special budget in response to new U.S. tariffs and China's military activities around Taiwan.

Huang Wen-chi (黃文啟), head of the MND's Department of Strategic Planning, said the budget would enhance resilience in the event of a blockade or quarantine.

The proposed spending would also fund improvements to the training of reservists and conscripts, as well as the stockpiling of ammunition.

The ministry has requested NT$67.3 billion to strengthen communications, including cloud-based operating systems, reinforcement of Taiwan's backbone network, and mobile command centers across the services. Huang said traditional stationary systems are vulnerable to kinetic attacks (for example missile strikes).

Meanwhile, NT$3 billion is being sought to bolster maritime defense, including upgrades to the Navy's Dacheng C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) system and integrating radar systems of the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Army to build a common operational picture, Huang said.

Koo added that all procurement funded by the special budget would be carried out domestically to support Taiwan's economy.