As the special defense budget remains stalled in the Legislature, the KMT reportedly insists that each defense procurement item must come with a U.S. Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) before proceeding. Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Wednesday retorted that their version of the bill was drafted based on formal documents the United States provided, expressing willingness to sell.

KMT legislators said the LOAs would prevent blank authorization. Koo explained that under the established procurement model, only cases that have completed the U.S. congressional notification process are made public, giving legislators enough time to scrutinize the procurement contents. 

“Under those circumstances, legislators theoretically wouldn’t have reviewed the budget at all before telling the Defense Ministry to sign the LOA. If anything, seeing an LOA and immediately telling us to sign it is more akin to blank authorization,” he said.

Regarding recent foreign media reports about how Taiwan’s military should study Ukraine’s asymmetric warfare techniques, Koo said that asymmetric warfare and unmanned systems have long been a priority for the Defense Ministry, which is why the special defense budget includes drone procurement and establishing a non-red supply chain.

Asked whether the ministry could accept a final figure of NT$800 billion (US$24.6 billion) if that is where the act lands, Koo stressed that the NT$1.25 trillion (US$38.5 billion) figure was derived from overall operational requirements, covering not just arms purchases but also commercial sales and contracted production, which are all essential to combined combat power. 

Koo indicated that the ministry’s 2026 priorities center on strengthening joint operations capability. Beyond the annual Han Kuang exercise, readiness drills, and inter-service exercises, he said new exercises planned for coming months will validate command-and-control staff operations, combined arms coordination, and inter-service integration based on actual joint operations plans. 

As for China's information operations and united front activities, Koo said the ministry will strengthen inter-agency coordination and work with allies to develop counter-narrative cooperation, reducing Beijing’s influence.