President 
Lai Ching-te presented awards to military role models and model units at the Ministry of National Defense on September 2, a day before Armed Forces Day, and pledged that the government would keep improving pay for the armed forces. The 175 awards he handed out also honored contributions to all-out defense education, PTS reported. The same day he posted a Facebook video on the domestically built Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer and the air force pilots, maintenance and ground crews behind it.
What did Lai promise on pay? Speaking at the ceremony in remarks carried by PTS, Lai said a new combat-unit allowance added NT$4,000 a month from July for brigade-level-and-below units providing combat sustainment, while professional and supervisory allowances for military personnel, civil servants and teachers each rose NT$2,000. An across-the-board 4% raise follows in January, which he called the fifth pay increase for those groups in 10 years, CNA reported. "The core of national defense capability is people," he said.
How much will Taiwan spend on defense? The overall defense budget for 2027 will exceed NT$1 trillion for the first time and stay above 3% of GDP, Lai said. He put the figure at NT$1.1225 trillion, CNA reported. Citing rapid shifts in the international situation and the continued expansion of Chinese authoritarianism, he said more preparation means more security for the country. He added that the government would pursue defense self-reliance by developing the military industry, artificial intelligence and unmanned vehicles.
Who was honored? Among those he singled out were the Army Aviation 602nd Brigade's assault helicopter unit, which flew search-and-rescue personnel and equipment into the disaster zone after Typhoon Ragasa battered Hualien last year, and Marine company commander Capt. Tsai Yin-lan, the seventh woman in Taiwan to become a frogman. Maj. Wu Chih-chien, a military role model honoree who commands an air defense company operating Tien Kung III missiles, told CNA that, with Chinese military aircraft harassing Taiwan in recent years, his well-trained troops can handle combat-readiness duty. Chiang Wen-lang, who heads the reserve command's national advisory corps and has spent nearly 40 years in the reserve system, said at the event that, in his personal view, some weapons need not be bought from the United States because he had found the country "is not a very good friend," and that the military could develop more advanced weapons with Taiwan's own technology, PTS reported.
Figures referenced: Lai Ching-te. — JudgeMarket.
