Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien, center, speaks to reporters in Taipei yesterday. At the legislative committee meeting on this year’s defense budget, Hsu told lawmakers that Venezuela’s weapons, obtained from China and Russia, proved to be far inferior to US weapons. The issue was not only the origin of the weapons, but that they had been poorly maintained, Hsu said. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said that the opposition’s continued blocking of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget bill would impact national security. Each day that the defense budget is delayed consumes precious preparation time, it added.

Source: Taipei Times January 05, 2026 16:44 UTC