A Taiwan-US defence planning programme has sparked debate in Taiwan’s legislature over whether its strategic value justifies its higher cost after the government proposed raising its budget more than twelvefold next year.
At the centre of the controversy is a sharp increase in funding for the Joint Force Design (JFD) programme, a bilateral defence planning mechanism used to assess the island’s military requirements, operational concepts and capability gaps.
Findings for the JFD, formally known as the Taiwan-US Defence Department Cooperative Assessment Project, help shape force planning, military exercises, weapons procurement priorities and US security assistance.
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Taiwan’s defence ministry plans to allocate NT$471.2 million (US$14.9 million) to the programme between 2026 and 2028, including NT$152.5 million next year alone, marking a steep rise from previous years.
Questioning the increase during a legislative review on Tuesday, Ma Wen-chun of the main opposition Kuomintang party and co-chair of the body’s foreign affairs and defence committee asked what level of American participation could justify the spending.
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