Taiwan, special budget of 40 billion dollars for arms purchases

Taipei (Taiwan), Nov. 26 (LaPresse) – Taiwan’s President, Lai Ching-te, announced that he will present a special budget of 40 billion dollars for the purchase of weapons, including the construction of a Taiwan Dome, an air defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities, in the face of pressure from the United States for the island to increase its defense spending. The budget will be spread over 8 years, from 2026 to 2033, and comes after Lai had already committed to raising defense spending to 5% of the island’s GDP. Taiwan has currently allocated an increase in the defense budget to 3.3% for 2026, allocating 949.5 billion New Taiwan Dollars, the official currency, equal to about 31.18 billion dollars. Lai had previewed the announcement in an op-ed published Wednesday in the Washington Post, stating that the special budget would be used to purchase weapons from the United States. Wellington Koo, Taiwan’s Minister of National Defense, said Wednesday that the 40 billion dollars constitute the maximum limit of the special budget and will be used to purchase precision missiles and for the joint development and procurement between Taiwan and the United States of equipment and systems.