✂️ 🇹🇼 🇨🇳 Taiwan’s opposition parties have advanced a bill that would slash a special military budget, potentially jeopardizing the purchases of billions of dollars of US weapons aimed at deterring the threat of invasion by China

The Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party voted on Friday to push forward their version of a special budget bill, which covers only part of the weapons systems recently approved by the US for sale to Taiwan, representing significant cuts from President Lai Ching-te’s rival proposal.

The opposition’s bill would cap spending at NT$400 billion ($12.7 billion), compared with the NT$1.25 trillion sought by the government.

The bill is expected to be sent to the Legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee for discussion when lawmakers reconvene in late February after the Lunar New Year break.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-02/taiwan-s-opposition-seeks-to-slash-arms-budget-demanded-by-trump

📎 Bloomberg

📝 🇹🇼 🇨🇳 Woofers on X:

I am extremely pessimistic about Taiwan’s chances in a fight with China. Why?
-The KMT is increasingly aligned with the mainland and actively constrains desperately-needed defense spending.
-What spending is available is often spent on high-budget, high visibility programs of dubious utility/survivability in a war with the PRC.
-It is highly likely that the PRC has compromised important ROCA figures, which means that Taiwan’s defensive strategy as a whole is likely compromised.
-The United States might not come to the rescue.

The more I read about the Taiwanese military and political situation the more I feel that the situation is simply unsustainable. The CPC seeks political capture still but will feel more confident in their ability to kinetically take over Taiwan, even if it will be difficult and costly.

📝 Jimmy P: "Not only the KMT but also the TPP have largely become defeatist and are actively sabotaging progress. Even the DPP can be said to treat defense in a half-hearted manner.
However, the widespread opposition on purchasing major platforms is in fact dubious."

📎 Woofers

🇺🇸🇮🇷 - The U.S. has once again issued a warning to its citizens, urging them to leave Iran immediately.

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