The opposition group in the Legislative Yuan is expected to propose a bill on drones and unmanned vehicles, advocating an annual budget and opposing the special budget plan of the Political Yuan version. In addition, the budget of the blue camp version is larger than that of the Political Yuan version, causing controversy. Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan Zhang Dunhan pointed out in the Legislative Yuan today that this move may be obviously illegal and unconstitutional. For defense-related projects involving procurement or cross-border cooperation, the use of special budgets can maintain stability and will not crowd out various annual budgets such as construction and welfare. He hopes for the support of the ruling and opposition parties.
Last month, the Executive Yuan passed a draft of the "Special Ordinance on the Procurement of Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles for National Defense" with a special budget of 210 billion yuan. The Legislative Yuan of the KMT and the People's Party adopted the version of the annual budget proposed by their respective party groups yesterday. Together with the Political Yuan version, it is expected to be submitted to the committee for review on Friday. The Blue Camp version allocates 240 billion yuan for six years, while the White Camp version does not include a quota.
The Internal Affairs Committee of the Legislative Yuan will continue to review the budget of the Executive Yuan today. Chang Dun-han, who was present as a non-voting witness, pointed out in an interview before the meeting that Article 59 of the Constitution stipulates that the budget shall be proposed by the Executive Yuan, Article 63 of the Constitution stipulates that the Legislative Yuan shall deliberate on the budget, and Article 70 of the Constitution also stipulates that the Legislative Yuan shall not make decisions about increasing expenditures in the budget. The version proposed by Taichung Mayor Lu Xiuyan and the opposition may be clearly unconstitutional.
Zhang Xu pointed out that Article 91 of the Budget Law also clearly stipulates that if the Legislative Yuan wants to make large expenditure decisions on the budget, it must first consult with the Executive Yuan to confirm whether there are suitable financial resources. The opposition version of increasing the budget may also be obviously illegal.
Zhang Dunhan said that there are media reports that New Taipei drone industry operators have also publicly expressed that if the annual budget is adopted instead of special budget procedures, it may be detrimental to the development of the industry. This is a "hit and run" approach.
Zhang said that special budgets have been used for many years for defense-related projects involving procurement or cross-border cooperation. The reason is that they are relatively sustainable and stable and are not easily squeezed out of various annual budgets, such as construction, welfare or others. Therefore, the Executive Yuan proposed a NT$210 billion special drone regulation in the hope of stabilizing the development of Taiwan's drone industry.
Zhang Dunhan said that today is July 1, half way through 2026, and this year’s budget has not yet been reviewed. If drone-related development is only placed in the annual budget, I don’t know which year’s budget will be delayed for more than 300 days without review. Now is a concrete, living, and bloody example. We still hope that the ruling and opposition parties will support the special regulations and special budget issued by the Executive Yuan for the development of Taiwan’s national defense and industry.
