In news from and about Taiwan this morning,

The Taiwan People's Party has announced its own version of the government's
defense budget bill.

The proposal outlines specific procurement items and amounts, and also
requires the Cabinet to present a special report to the Legislative Yuan
within one month of the bill's passage, which will be subject to questioning
and approval before budget compilation.

According to party chairman Huang Kuo-chang, the move is aimed at ensure
transparency and accountability in defense spending.

Huang says the T-P-P's version of special defense budget increases the
authorized amount by 20-per cent to address the need to enhance combat
capabilities.

The party chair is also stressing that taxpayers pay a high price for
military procurement and its crucial to ensure that costly items, such as
self-propelled howitzers and high mobility artillery rocket systems are
delivered on time.

The total budget cap for the T-P-P's version is 400-billion N-T.

The draft bill includes a list of procurement items, costs, delivery
timelines, and maintenance expenses.