Lawmakers in Taiwan approved a $7.6 billion budget for locally made drones on Thursday (August 27, 2026) as the island democracy seeks to strengthen its defences against a potential Chinese attack.
A spending proposal backed by opposition parties — the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) —cleared parliament after a plan submitted by President Lai Ching-te’s government was rejected. Mr. Lai’s government wants Taiwan to be able to produce enough drones on its own to repel a potential attack from China. But the government has repeatedly clashed with the opposition, which holds the most seats in parliament, over how much to spend on improving the island’s defences and how it should be funded. Mr. The spending would have been spread out over more than five years and overseen by the defence ministry.
Lai’s government wanted to allocate up to NT$210 billion ($6.6 billion) in a special budget for Taiwan-made unmanned vehicles, including coastal surveillance, attack and surface drones. The KMT, which favours closer ties with China, and the TPP instead backed a proposal for NT$240 billion in spending over six years that would be included in the annual budget.
Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee said later that, although the government’s version was not supported, it will “make every possible effort to secure the necessary funding as soon as possible” for drone procurement.
U.S. calls for lawmakers to pass the drone bill had intensified in recent weeks.
KMT lawmaker Hsu Chiao-hsin said before the vote Taiwan “must genuinely encourage localisation and domestic production” to develop the industry. Republican lawmaker Young Kim said during a visit to Taipei last month that “time is short”. “The wars over Ukraine and Iran show that Taiwan needs to buy and build drones at a huge scale,” Ms. Kim said at the Presidential Office.
