Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) visited two key defense facilities in Kaohsiung on May 29th, inspecting military production lines and air defense command infrastructure. He warned that legislative cuts to the special defense budget have disrupted the military modernization schedule and pledged that the government will pursue alternative funding mechanisms to preserve its defense self-reliance goals.
Lai Inspects Southern Regional Operations Control Center and Ammunition Plant
Lai first visited the Air Force Southern Regional Operations Control Center, receiving mission briefings and touring training facilities and air traffic control operations. He then proceeded to Manufacturing Center Plant 205 (第205廠) under the Ministry of National Defense's Armaments Bureau, where he reviewed ammunition production lines, explosive materials, propellants, and newly developed light weapons systems. He also presented supplementary meal allowances to personnel in recognition of their service.
Addressing staff at Plant 205, Lai said the automated ammunition production lines were "remarkably impressive," and described the facility's output — including explosives, ammunition, propellants, light weapons, and individual combat gear — as a critical foundation for the entire armed forces. "The higher your production quality, the stronger the military's overall combat capability," Lai said. "When the quality of what you manufacture is assured, the lives of our service members are naturally protected."
Lai urged Armaments Bureau personnel to increase production capacity and quality as the new T112 standard-issue rifle enters phased deployment. He called for the upgrade to cover reserve forces as well as frontline units, calling on the military to advance toward the goals of "new training, new thinking, new equipment, and new technology." He also encouraged broader private-sector collaboration, saying public-private partnerships should generate results greater than the sum of their parts, while allowing the Armaments Bureau to continue releasing non-sensitive contracts to civilian manufacturers.
Lai noted that his earlier stop at the Southern Regional Operations Control Center gave him direct insight into how southern airspace command-and-control functions, describing both facilities as essential components of national defense. "Building a more resilient and complete defense system is my responsibility as commander-in-chief," he said.
Budget Cuts Draw Sharp Criticism From Lai
Lai said cuts to the special defense budget by the opposition-controlled legislature have materially affected the military buildup timeline, and pledged the government would take remedial action on every front.
He cited Plant 205 as a direct example: the facility had been scheduled under the special budget to add six new production lines, which would have more than doubled output capacity for ammunition and explosives. Those plans would not only have advanced defense self-reliance and strengthened stockpile resilience, Lai said, but also created additional employment — all of which have now stalled following the legislature's passage of a reduced defense budget. "This has significantly undermined our defense self-reliance objectives," Lai said.
Regarding the Southern Regional Operations Control Center, Lai said that key procurement items linked to target acquisition, command-and-control, and layered interception capabilities had been "removed without justification" by the legislature. He argued the cuts have created gaps in an otherwise highly integrated, multi-layered air defense system designed to protect lives and property.
The government is committed to resolving these setbacks and ensuring our defense objectives are met. Lai outlined three potential remedies: introducing a separate special legislative act; submitting supplementary budget requests; or increasing annual operating budgets. He said these mechanisms would be used to fund additional procurement, commissioned manufacturing, and international defense cooperation across priority areas including overall air defense, defense self-reliance, and unmanned vehicles, while advancing domestic defense industry development and building what he called "intelligent, sustainable defense capabilities." The stated objective is to preserve cross-strait stability and protect the security of Taiwan's 23 million people.
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