Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung Urges Legislative Yuan to Authorize Signing of Three Arms Sales LOAs Before March 15 Deadline

ROC Ministry of National Defense

2026.02.24

Issuing Authority：Administration Office

Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo Li-hsiung told the media during an interview at the Legislative Yuan on January 20 that the Legislative Yuan had already convened and expressed hope that the Executive Yuan’s version of the Special Act on Defense Procurement would be referred to committee as soon as possible. He also hoped the Legislative Yuan would authorize the Ministry of National Defense to sign the Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs) for the three arms sales cases approaching their expiration date before the Act and related budget were passed, so as to ensure smooth progress in all military buildup and readiness efforts.

Executive Yuan Premier Cho Jung-tai led the Cabinet to the Legislative Yuan on the morning of January 20 to present the administrative guidelines and report and to answer questions. Before the session, Minister Koo spoke to the media and pointed out that the Executive Yuan had approved the draft “Special Act on Procurement for Strengthening Defense Resilience and Asymmetric Warfare Capabilities” the previous year. The U.S. Government had previously provided draft LOAs for three arms sales cases included in the Act—TOW Missile Follow-On Purchase, Javelin Anti-Armor Missile Follow-On Purchase, and M109A7 Self-Propelled Howitzer—with validity expiring on March 15 of this year. The Ministry of National Defense had hoped to sign the LOAs on schedule, but it was impossible to obtain budget allocation before March 15 due to procedural constraints. He therefore hoped the Foreign Affaris and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan could adopt a “pre-authorization before budget passage” approach, allowing the Ministry to complete signing with the U.S. side and avoid delays or the need to restart the entire process.

Regarding the opposition parties’ intention to propose their own version, Minister Koo further stated that for more than a year, the Ministry of National Defense had rigorously and prudently reviewed defense operational requirements with the U.S. administrative agencies and had prepared procurement plans. From the White House and Department of State to the Department of Defense, the U.S. side had repeatedly affirmed the NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget. The budget had been formulated based on defense operational capability needs after close bilateral discussions and was expected to be beneficial to enhancing defensive combat power. The Ministry still hoped to use the Executive Yuan’s comprehensive plan as the basis for reviewing the Act and budget, and to consider future capability building.

The Ministry of National Defense emphasized that increasing the defense budget and strengthening defensive capabilities not only concerned Taiwan’s own security but also served as an important indicator to the international community of Taiwan’s responsibility to defend itself. Taiwan was located at a key strategic position in the Indo-Pacific and faced complex and severe security challenges. It was therefore necessary to build internal consensus and steadily advance military buildup and readiness efforts to ensure national security and regional peace.