(Adnkronos) – The Parliament of Taiwan has approved a plan of 240 billion Taiwanese dollars, approximately 6.5 billion euros, to boost national drone production and strengthen the island’s defenses against the threat of a possible Chinese attack. The proposal, supported by opposition parties Kuomintang (Kmt) and Taiwan People’s Party (Tpp), foresees distributing the expenditure over six years and was approved after Parliament had rejected the plan of President Lai Ching-te’s government, which proposed an allocation of up to 210 billion Taiwanese dollars, approximately 5.7 billion euros over five years.
The government’s goal is to enable Taiwan to autonomously produce enough drones to help repel a potential Chinese offensive, focusing on the asymmetric warfare capabilities that also emerged in the conflict in Ukraine. “National security cannot afford delays,” said government spokeswoman Michelle Lee. In recent weeks, Washington had also increased pressure for the approval of funding: during a visit to Taipei, American Republican congresswoman Young Kim warned that “time is running out,” arguing that “the wars in Ukraine and Iran demonstrate that Taiwan must acquire and build drones on a very large scale.” For 2027, the Lai government has also forecast a record defense expenditure of 1.1 trillion Taiwanese dollars, exceeding 3% of GDP.
