He writes that the KMT’s opposition to the NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.61 billion) special defense budget is a principled stand for legislative oversight. Shen said that a defense plan must survive the “scrutiny of its own legislature,” but the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party have blocked that budget from even entering the agenda 10 times. Shen leans heavily on one statistic: The legislature last year passed a record-high defense budget of NT$471 billion. That number sounds impressive when divorced from the fact that China’s defense budget has risen every single year for decades and dwarfs Taiwan’s many times over. The new NT$1.25 trillion “T-Dome” budget is specifically designed for asymmetric warfare — with drones, loitering munitions and artificial intelligence-integrated systems.

Source: Taipei Times February 09, 2026 17:27 UTC