Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan failed to reach consensus on most articles of three competing versions of a special defense budget bill, with lawmakers deadlocked over the government’s NT$1.25 trillion ($39.21 billion) proposal alongside smaller opposition alternatives.
The Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee and Finance Committee began article-by-article deliberations on the Executive Yuan’s version, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s NT$380 billion version and the Taiwan People’s Party’s NT$400 billion version.
Only two provisions were passed, while the rest were reserved for cross-party negotiations, including Article 2 stipulating the Ministry of National Defense as the competent authority and Article 3 requiring procurement to follow the Government Procurement Act.
The stalemate extends a months-long political battle over the “Program of Acquisition Special Regulations for Strengthening Defense Resilience and Asymmetric Combat Capacity,” which would represent a significant increase in Taiwan’s defense spending to an estimated 3.3 percent of GDP in 2026.
Negotiations over the special defense budget remain stalled with proposals ranging from NT$380 billion to NT$1.25 trillion ($11.9 billion to $39.1 billion).
U.S. lawmakers have weighed in, with 37 bipartisan members of Congress writing a letter expressing concern about stalled defense spending, including senior members from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Defense Minister Wellington Koo told legislators “We will continue to make efforts” when pressed about the deadlock.
As of March 27, the Legislative Yuan remains deadlocked, with U.S. officials expecting Taiwan to move toward defense spending near 5% of GDP.