Taiwan Passes Key $25 Billion Defense Budget to Deter China

Taiwanese lawmakers approved a special defense budget proposed by President Lai Ching-te that is intended to help the democracy build a state-of-the-art system to counter aerial threats from China.

The legislature voted to provide NT$780 billion ($24.8 billion), Speaker Han Kuo-yu said after the vote Friday. That is less than the NT$1.25 trillion Lai’s government had sought but more than the NT$380 billion initially proposed by the opposition Kuomintang.