TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The DPP on Thursday urged Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and KMT New Taipei mayoral hopeful Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) to respond to cuts targeting drone industry funding originally included in the Cabinet’s special defense budget proposal.
The DPP noted that opposition-led municipalities host roughly 200 drone-related firms, including 52 in New Taipei and 43 in Taipei, per ETtoday. The party said the version of the special defense budget passed by the opposition excluded NT$470 billion (US$15 billion) earmarked for Taiwan’s drone industry.
According to the DPP, the cuts would not only undermine Taiwan’s developing drone sector but also damage the economic prospects of municipalities governed by the KMT. The party argued that investment in drones would strengthen Taiwan’s national defense while helping Taiwanese firms integrate into democratic countries’ supply chains.
Former DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) also commented on the issue, noting that only 45 of Taiwan’s 267 drone-related companies are located in DPP-governed municipalities, per Newtalk.
Responding to similar criticism from DPP city councilors, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said the opposition’s approval of US arms procurement before formal approval by US President Donald Trump demonstrated Taiwan’s commitment to self-defense, per UDN.
Lu added that while the defense ministry’s drone procurement plans remain uncertain, the economics ministry’s NT$44.2 billion drone development budget would support a broad range of applications. She also said she had yet to see any proposal from the central government to direct those investments toward Taichung.
Lu also cautioned against concentrating drone industry development in a single center in Chiayi County, arguing such facilities should be distributed nationwide, per Liberty Times. She added that Taichung’s established manufacturing base would allow for rapid expansion of drone production.
National Taiwan University Professor Chen Ping-hei (陳炳煇) said Taiwan’s drone ambitions are closely tied to military applications and efforts to establish supply chains independent of China, per SETN. He pointed to a 2022 visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Hong Kong, during which drones in the city were reportedly grounded through remote access controls.
Chen argued that the government should support the drone sector through special budgets and other forms of state backing. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has proposed alternatives including supplementary budgets, expanded defense spending in the 2027 budget, or another special defense package, per Storm Media.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research associate research fellow Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌) disagreed with relying on one-time special budgets, per Liberty Times. He argued that rapidly evolving drone technology and changing military needs make stable annual procurement more effective because it provides companies with flexibility and incentives for continued development.
