Taiwan passes annual budget after long delay, including drone spending

Taiwan's parliament finally approved this year's budget after a record delay, cutting T$48 billion from the original T$3.034 trillion proposal.
Crucially, T$63.4 billion earmarked for a key drone programme passed intact as part of efforts to modernise the military and deter China.
The opposition-approved package covered most spending (the KMT said 98.4%), prompting the president to call for calmer, more professional budget review — and next year's defence budget is set to rise about 16%.