Taiwan's $8.9bn plan for more submarines meets political resistance

TAIPEI -- Taiwan's opposition is pushing back against a Ministry of Defense proposal to produce more home-built submarines, intensifying questions over the fate of an upcoming budget session in parliament.

The government announced last week that Premier Cho Jung-tai had signed off on the ministry's plan to build seven submarines from 2025 to 2038 at an estimated cost of 284 billion New Taiwan dollars ($8.9 billion). By the end of this month, the budget proposal for 2025 is expected to be sent to the Legislative Yuan, where the main opposition Kuomintang and its Taiwan People's Party ally hold a narrow majority.