Taiwan Passes Extra $8.6bn Defence Budget

Taiwan’s parliament has passed an extra spending bill of $8.6bn, in the latest bid to boost defence capabilities against growing military threats from China. <br />Lawmakers agreed unanimously to pass the special budget, which comes on top of a record annual defence budget of about $17bn set for 2022. <br />The government says the additional resources are aimed at acquiring precision missiles and mass-manufacture high-efficiency naval ships in the shortest period of time to boost the island’s sea and air capabilities. <br />The budget includes a coastal anti-ship missiles system, a locally developed Wan Chien cruise missile as well as an attack drone system and the installation of combat systems on coastguard ships.