Taiwan’s Presidential Office on Thursday urged lawmakers to pass the Cabinet’s version of a special defense bill before a potential Trump-Xi meeting, citing growing regional security concerns and public support for increased defense spending. 

Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in an interview that joint military exercises by the United States, Japan and the Philippines, along with ongoing defense strengthening by Tokyo and Manila, have drawn international attention to whether Taiwan is demonstrating sufficient resolve to bolster its own defense.
Kuo stated that nearly 70% of Taiwanese public opinion supports passing defense-related budgets, therefore urging the Legislature, regardless of political affiliation, to do its utmost to facilitate this process.

She added that opposition proposals totaling NT$380 billion (US$12 billion) or NT$800 billion (US$25.4 billion) exclude key elements such as drone development and domestic defense industry supply chains. The administration instead supports the Cabinet’s full NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.6 billion), eight-year plan. 

Kuo urged, “Strengthening national defense should be passed by the Legislature as soon as possible. This should not be divided between the KMT and DPP; everyone should work together to make strengthening national defense a shared goal that we strive for and can successfully achieve. Before the Trump–Xi meeting, we hope that our special national defense bill can be passed smoothly.”

Separately, she expressed regret that prosecutor-general nominee Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) failed to secure legislative approval, calling him an “outstanding talent” with experience across national security and law enforcement. President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) will proceed with follow-up actions after receiving the relevant documents, Kuo said.