Taipei: Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said Thursday that the proposed NT$10 billion (US$326.38 million) increase in his ministry budget for next year is necessary to counter China’s growing aggression. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has proposed a budget of NT$41.503 billion for fiscal year 2026, which has been sent to the Legislature, seeking approval for a significant hike from this year’s NT$30.587 billion.
According to Focus Taiwan, Lin stated in a report to lawmakers that the proposed increase of NT$10.916 billion is necessary to deal with China’s rising aggression against Taiwan on the global stage. Over the past 25 years, China’s foreign ministry has increased its budget 11 times, using the funds to lure Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and boost its efforts to isolate Taiwan in the international community, Lin said in his report to the Legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
“If our diplomatic resources are not given a major boost, it would be extremely difficult for us to compete with China’s strong offense and tremendous resources,” Lin said. He was responding to questions by lawmakers of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) about the reasons behind the significant hike in his ministry’s proposed budget.
MOFA’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 stands at 1.37 percent of the government’s projected total expenditure for that year, compared to 1.05 percent of the total in 2025, an official source told CNA on condition of anonymity. However, that amount is a drop in the bucket compared with China’s current foreign affairs budget of 64.5 billion yuan (US$9.05 billion), which has jumped from 5.7 billion 25 years ago, the source added.
Meanwhile, Lin said during Thursday’s legislative session that over the past few months, he was able to visit nine countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Those democratic countries, including Japan and the Philippines, welcomed his visits despite China’s protests, he said.
Lin singled out the Czech Republic for standing up to pressure from China last month when he was invited to speak at the Warsaw Security Forum. China had tried to force the European country to withdraw its invitation to him because Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was also scheduled to visit the Czech Republic around the same time, Lin told lawmakers. While Taiwan’s exchanges with non-allies could be limited, there is plenty of room for parliamentary, think tank, technological, and cultural exchanges, he said.
