By Hollie Younger / Staff writer, with CNA

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) today shot down a draft act proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Tuesday last week to boost Taiwan’s domestic drone industry.

The project would have funded the domestic drone industry for NT$550 billion (US$17.47 billion) over five years, to spearhead domestic industries’ transition into the national defense supply chain.

DPP caucus chief executive Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) proposed the project to address the industry’s lack of clear legal guidance and a competent authority to oversee operations.

Photo courtesy of the Chiayi County Government

It also sought to address funding gaps left after opposition lawmakers removed NT$470 billion from the Special Statute for the Procurement of Defense Resilience and Asymmetric Combat Capability Program (保衛國家安全及強化不對稱戰力計畫採購特別條例), including funds earmarked for drone-related projects.

Chung said it was “hard to understand” the opposition parties’ decision to block the proposal, as the KMT and TPP had previously said they wished to further Taiwan’s drone industry.

Taichung Mayor Lu Hsiu-yen (盧秀燕) of the KMT has also previously pledged to turn her city into a major hub for the drone industry, a proposal widely supported by KMT legislators from Taichung, he said.

On Tuesday, opposition parties used their majority in the Procedure Committee to send a draft agenda to today’s plenary session.

This morning, the TPP caucus proposed that Chung’s bill not be placed on the legislative agenda, which passed with a 60-49 vote.

The proposal was sent back to the Procedure Committee, preventing it from being referred for committee review.

The global drone industry is advancing rapidly, with many US companies recently approaching Taiwan for supply-chain partnerships, Chung said.

However, the domestic development of the sector is limited by a lack of testing sites in airspace and maritime areas and regulatory restrictions.

The project would not only have benefited economic development, but also strengthened applications in agriculture, industry, firefighting and national defense, DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) said.

Several other DPP-led proposals were also blocked today, including one by DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) to enact stricter oversight of lawmakers traveling to China and the Executive Yuan’s version of amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法).

If lawmakers disagree with the contents of a bill, they should allow it to pass the first reading and enter the formal legislative review process, where amendments or competing proposals can be considered, DPP caucus secretary-general Fan Yun (范雲) added.