Taiwan’s President William Lai Ching-te, right, holds talks with U.S. House Representative Young Kim in Taipei, Friday, July 31, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
A U.S. lawmaker urged Taiwan on Friday (July 31, 2026) to approve a drone spending proposal, warning that “time is short” for the island democracy as it faces the threat of a potential Chinese attack.
China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it. Taiwan has ramped up its defence spending in recent years, but remains reliant on U.S. security support to deter Beijing.
“Time is short, and the faster a comprehensive drone Bill can pass, the better,” Republican lawmaker Young Kim said during a visit to Taipei by a bipartisan congressional delegation.
“The wars over Ukraine and Iran show that Taiwan needs to buy and build drones at a huge scale,” Ms. Kim said at the Presidential Office, where the U.S. lawmakers met with President Lai Ching-te.
Under intense U.S. pressure to spend more on security, President Lai’s government has vowed to increase defence spending to five percent of GDP by 2030.
A key focus of the spending is smaller and more nimble weaponry, including drones, to enable Taiwan’s military to wage asymmetric warfare against its more powerful foe.
Mr. Lai wants to allocate up to NT$210 billion ($6.5 billion) over more than five years for Taiwan-made unmanned vehicles, including coastal surveillance, attack and surface drones.
The Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan’s main Opposition party in favour of closer ties with China, has proposed NT$240 billion in spending over six years.
But the KMT wants to cap spending at NT$40 billion a year and include it in the annual budget.
“We are committed to further increasing Taiwan’s military budget and bolstering whole-of-society defence resilience,” Mr. Lai told the U.S. delegation.
“We will also deepen collaboration with democratic partners to demonstrate our determination and capacity to jointly deter aggression and respond to threats.”
‘Help us help you’
Mr. Lai’s government has clashed with the Opposition parties that control parliament over how much to spend on improving Taiwan’s defence capabilities.
The KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party passed a $25 billion special defence budget in May, slashing by a third the amount sought by Mr. Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party.
The Opposition stripped out around $15 billion that the government had wanted to use for domestic drone procurement and other efforts to boost defences.
Ms. Kim hailed the passing of the $25 billion defence bill as a “major achievement”, but said more needed to be done to shore up Taiwan’s security and support.
“Every new defence measure taken, including in strengthening Taiwan’s military reserves, stiffens the resolve of free people everywhere against the malign intentions of the Chinese Communist Party,” Ms. Kim said.
“The more concrete steps that Taiwan takes, the more the United States can do to support Taiwan,” she said, adding that “deterrence takes two to tango, so help us help you.”
Taiwan is a relatively new player in the increasingly competitive drone industry. The island aims to have a monthly production capacity of 100,000 drones by 2030, compared with its previous target of 15,000 by 2028.
Published – July 31, 2026 10:52 pm IST
