President promulgates act to boost defense autonomy, drone industry

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) The Office of the President on Friday issued a presidential order promulgating an act aimed at strengthening Taiwan's defense autonomy and developing its unmanned vehicle industry, after Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) countersigned the legislation.

The Act on Strengthening Defense Autonomy and Developing the Unmanned Vehicles Industry will take effect six months after promulgation, while its budget allocation provision will take effect immediately.

At a press conference earlier Friday, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said Cho had countersigned the act after it was passed by the Legislature on Aug. 27, citing the urgency of strengthening national defense and upgrading Taiwan's unmanned vehicle industry.

"The current security situation will not wait for political disputes to be fully resolved, nor will international industrial competition wait for Taiwan to perfect all of its systems and policies," Chang said.

"Although the Cabinet's concerns about the legislation have not disappeared, the administration cannot step back from its responsibility to safeguard the country," he said.

Under the act, the central government is to allocate NT$240 billion (US$7.56 billion) over six years through annual budgets, in principle NT$40 billion per year, for the development and procurement of unmanned vehicles.

The Ministry of National Defense is directed to prioritize the procurement of domestically produced "low-cost, high-performance" unmanned systems. Additional funding may be provided subject to legislative approval.

Chang said the Cabinet would exercise its constitutional authority over the budget by allocating funds based on actual national defense and industrial needs, while remaining subject to legislative oversight.

The Cabinet had previously proposed a six-year special budget of NT$210 billion for the development and procurement of unmanned systems, but the proposal failed to pass the Legislature.