Taipei: The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Friday expressed regret over a lower-than-it-had-hoped-for NT$780 billion (US$24.8 billion) budget passed earlier in the day by the opposition-controlled Legislature, warning that it could create a gap in Taiwan's defense capabilities.

According to Focus Taiwan, the DPP spokesperson Lee Kun-cheng said it was regrettable that the opposition parties ignored the government's repeated explanations of its proposed NT$1.25 trillion budget for the purchase of U.S. and domestically-developed weapons, and instead passed the much-reduced NT$780 billion version. Lee stated that the significant budget cuts could undermine mutual trust between Taiwan and the U.S., as well as Taiwan's commitment to maintaining its self-defense capability and regional peace. He also noted that the cuts might hamper the development of Taiwan's indigenous defense industry and create gaps in future national defense.

The opposition parties argued that lawmakers must exercise their duty to prevent inflated spending. The Democratic Progressive Party highlighted that some of the cuts would have been used to fund cooperative projects between Taiwan and the U.S. in building a multilayered air defense network, known as "T-Dome", as well as unmanned vehicle systems and counter-UAV capabilities.

Fan Yun, secretary-general of the DPP legislative caucus, raised concerns that the "gutted" version of the defense budget might stall Taiwan-U.S. defense cooperation. On the other hand, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP), which used their combined legislative majority to reduce the defense spending portion of the budget, argued that the Legislature must not become a rubber stamp for the executive branch. They emphasized the need to avoid handing over a "massive blank check" to the ruling party, which could create opportunities for corruption rather than genuinely strengthening Taiwan's defense capabilities.