Taiwan to publicly fund the Chien Kung missile system, with deliveries due from 2028

Taiwan plans to place funding for its domestically produced Chien Kung missile system in the public defense budget next year, after previously planning to use special and supplementary budgets.

The Air Force expects to spend NT$36.03714 billion from this year through 2032 on continued development and construction. Deliveries of the missiles and weapons systems are expected to begin in 2028.

The system is intended to counter the threat from Chinese tactical ballistic missiles. Its stated mission covers interception of tactical ballistic missiles with ranges of up to 1,000 kilometers within the atmosphere.

The roundup also lists several other major stories. Prosecutors are seeking a 12-year sentence for a Ministry of Health and Welfare associate researcher accused of espionage, collecting sensitive government documents and helping transfer money to Taiwanese military personnel allegedly recruited by China. A rafting accident in Nantou left three tourists stranded on a sandbar and killed firefighter Wu Cheng-lung during the rescue effort.

Other headlines focus on Taiwan’s push for sovereign AI, amid concerns over computing capacity and electricity; a Taiwanese patient who traveled to Cambodia for a kidney transplant; Nvidia’s planned $3.5 billion investment in MediaTek through overseas convertible bonds; and a dispute involving PCB maker Unimicron over alleged origin washing. Unimicron said the products involved were standard PCBs rather than high-end substrates and would not materially affect its operations or finances.