00:00Taiwan's Opposition Control Parliament approved an additional $25 billion in defence spending on Friday.
00:06However, that is only around two-thirds of what the government had requested
00:10to strengthen the island's military against China's rapidly modernising armed forces.
00:16Taiwan President Lai Ching-ta had wanted a $39.8 billion supplementary defence package approved.
00:23The funding included purchases of US weapons as well as domestically produced equipment such as drones
00:29as Taiwan seeks to boost deterrence against China, which claims the island as its own territory.
00:35But the Opposition-controlled Parliament approved a scaled-down version instead,
00:40arguing that parts of the proposal lacked clarity and could create corruption risk.
00:45Lai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party expressed regret over the decision,
00:50saying the cuts could weaken Taiwan's defence readiness and create security gaps.
Comments