On February 13, Taiwan's parliament passed the government's annual budget of US$93 billion, ending a 266-day political deadlock — the longest in history — and beating a legal deadline. President William Lai Ching-te, who lost his legislative majority in 2024, had repeatedly clashed with the opposition over public spending during the process.
Notably, funding for drone development was preserved, despite earlier threats by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party to slash it by up to 70% in the initial debate. However, the party later withdrew its proposed cuts after failing to find the wasteful overlaps between development and weapons procurement programs it had originally cited.
Other cuts that were approved include a 60% reduction in special allowances for leaders of state agencies, a 2.5% cut in spending on military equipment and facilities, and a 50% reduction in budgets for media and policy propaganda.
Before Friday's vote, the government had been operating under a temporary budget mechanism to continue paying civil servants and maintaining welfare programs. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu said after the vote that the prolonged delay had caused "social division and constitutional deadlock," and called on both ruling and opposition parties to show more flexibility in the future.
President Lai Ching-te, in a statement, stressed that legislative oversight and budget review are important constitutional duties.
Notably, in May, Taiwan's government saw its US$40 billion special defense budget cut by 38% by the opposition-controlled parliament, which eliminated all funding for domestically produced drones while retaining only purchases of U.S. weapons.
Currently, Taiwan's military possesses fewer than 5,000 drones, while China is reported to have ordered nearly one million units for this year — part of a broader regional capability enhancement plan, alongside similar targets such as Ukraine's goal of 7 million drones by 2026. Beijing asserts that Taiwan is its territory and has sharply increased military pressure on the island in recent years.
