No Consensus on Defense Special Budget Items and Amounts, Negotiations to Resume May 6
Taiwan's Legislative Yuan failed to reach a consensus on the key terms of the National Defense Special Ordinance, including the 1.25 trillion NTD budget. Further negotiations are scheduled for May 6.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 27, 2026 at 18:39
- 🔍 Collected: April 27, 2026 at 19:02 (22 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 28, 2026 at 22:19 (27h 17m after Collected)
Central News Agency - Taipei, April 27. Legislative Yuan President Han Kuo-yu today once again convened the ruling and opposition parties to negotiate the draft of the National Defense Special Ordinance. After approximately 70 minutes of discussion regarding critical clauses such as procurement items and budget caps, no concrete consensus was reached. Before adjourning, Han announced that another negotiation session would be held on May 6 at 3:00 PM.
The joint committee of Foreign Affairs and National Defense and Finance had previously passed the initial review of the draft versions from the Executive Yuan, TPP, and KMT, but key clauses remained deadlocked and were reserved for caucus negotiations.
Following sessions on April 15 and 23, Han's meeting today aimed to tackle the budget execution rules and implementation periods. While some terms were agreed upon, core issues like specific procurement projects and the total budget remains unresolved. Defense Minister Wellington Koo, attending as an invitee, noted recent PLA naval and aerial exercises in the waters southwest of Penghu, stressing that the budget was carefully planned to meet rising threats. 'Our response to the threat is not just empty talk,' he asserted.
During negotiations, Koo explained that the Executive Yuan's version lists 7 categories of items and amounts totaling 1.25 trillion NTD over 8 years. KMT legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin suggested discussing the budget cap first to speed up the process. TPP caucus leader Chen Ching-lung expressed support for military purchases but insisted on clear information regarding procurement items. Hsu emphasized that KMT supports reasonable defense building but believes foreign military sales, commercial purchases, and domestic manufacturing should be accounted for separately for practicality, suggesting a base support of around 800 billion NTD for military sales.
As no consensus was found, Han allowed for party-level consultations and set the next meeting for May 6 to allow parties to consult their members on project and amount adjustments.
The joint committee of Foreign Affairs and National Defense and Finance had previously passed the initial review of the draft versions from the Executive Yuan, TPP, and KMT, but key clauses remained deadlocked and were reserved for caucus negotiations.
Following sessions on April 15 and 23, Han's meeting today aimed to tackle the budget execution rules and implementation periods. While some terms were agreed upon, core issues like specific procurement projects and the total budget remains unresolved. Defense Minister Wellington Koo, attending as an invitee, noted recent PLA naval and aerial exercises in the waters southwest of Penghu, stressing that the budget was carefully planned to meet rising threats. 'Our response to the threat is not just empty talk,' he asserted.
During negotiations, Koo explained that the Executive Yuan's version lists 7 categories of items and amounts totaling 1.25 trillion NTD over 8 years. KMT legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin suggested discussing the budget cap first to speed up the process. TPP caucus leader Chen Ching-lung expressed support for military purchases but insisted on clear information regarding procurement items. Hsu emphasized that KMT supports reasonable defense building but believes foreign military sales, commercial purchases, and domestic manufacturing should be accounted for separately for practicality, suggesting a base support of around 800 billion NTD for military sales.
As no consensus was found, Han allowed for party-level consultations and set the next meeting for May 6 to allow parties to consult their members on project and amount adjustments.