DPP, KMT spar over funding options for weapons excluded from budget bill

Taipei, May 15 (CNA) The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) clashed Friday over how to fund weapons systems recently excluded from a supplementary budget bill, after the Cabinet said it was considering three options to pay for the equipment.

The Legislature last week passed an opposition-backed supplementary defense budget bill with a spending cap of NT$780 billion (US$24.7 billion) to fund weapons approved for sale to Taiwan by the United States, excluding domestic contract production programs and foreign direct commercial sales.

Weapons excluded from the bill included drones, unmanned surface vessels, counter-drone systems, anti-ballistic missiles, and Taiwan Tactical Network (TTN) and Team Awareness Kit (TAK) systems -- equipment intended to help the armed forces build a common operational picture.

• Cabinet weighing options to fund weapons excluded from budget bill

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said Thursday the Cabinet is considering submitting another supplementary budget bill, increasing the general budget for next year, or raising the Ministry of National Defense's budget for fiscal year 2026.

DPP caucus director-general Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said his caucus welcomed the Cabinet's plans.

However, he noted that the general budget for fiscal year 2026 is still under review, and any increase can only be proposed after the budget is passed.

Chuang said that while Taiwan's economy could support a larger general budget, neither that nor a defense budget increase would be a "normal" way to fund weapons originally included in the supplementary budget.

"The opposition parties teamed up to cut the budget, and now the government has to deal with the consequences," Chuang said. "This is not how oversight should work … the Legislative Yuan's job is to prevent wasteful spending. Political parties should leave their rivalry out of this."

Meanwhile, KMT caucus convener Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said the Cabinet should fund the weapons through the 2027 general budget.

The Cabinet is set to submit its general budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 at the end of August, and funding for the weapons should be included, Fu said.

He added that some of the domestic contract production programs included in the supplementary budget would run for up to 10 years and should therefore not be funded through a supplementary budget, which he said should only be used when war is imminent or after a major natural disaster.

"The KMT caucus supports national defense and safeguarding the Republic of China," Fu said. "We want to provide the military with the best equipment, but we hope this will happen through a general budget proposal by the Executive Yuan that can stand up to public scrutiny."

In other developments, the opposition-controlled Legislature on Friday passed a motion to extend the current session, originally scheduled to end on May 31, to the end of August, to allow for more time to review the 2026 general budget and other items.