DPP legislator Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) also warned that the budget impasse could disrupt the nationwide TPASS system for public transport. The proposed special budget for defense spending was blocked in committee again last week. For example, the indispensable Taiwan Defense News Tracker pointed out on X that the first 60 Paladin self-propelled artillery systems come out of the special budget, while the second batch of 60 are planned for the annual defense budget. The noise they make about spouses from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and their rights, the defense budget, and similar, are intended to distract from this real, distressing fact. The budget battle conceals that in these revolutionary times, this is a business-as-usual budget, funding large projects and handing out subsidies.

Source: Taipei Times December 28, 2025 16:11 UTC