Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai Countersigns Drone Industry Act After KMT Bill Passes

Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai formally countersigned the Strengthening Defense Autonomy and Unmanned Vehicle Industry Development Act before the final deadline of September 11, 2026. Cho said the Executive Yuan adhered to two principles: budget authority must not be undermined by the separation of powers, and relevant classified information must be properly protected. The Presidential Office subsequently issued a presidential order promulgating the act. To date, Cho has refused to countersign eight bills.

The Kuomintang had advocated returning to annual budget review, proposing a six-year draft worth RMB 240 billion New Taiwan dollars and arguing that the Ministry of Economic Affairs should be responsible. The Legislative Yuan passed the Kuomintang version on third reading on August 27, a move the American Institute in Taiwan welcomed.

Since taking office in 2024, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party has faced a divided government with the opposition holding the legislature. The opposition Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party have repeatedly joined forces to pass amendments such as the Fiscal Revenue and Expenditure Division Act, which the Lai administration has refused to implement. After the 2025 mass recall campaign against legislators and subsequent reconsideration motions failed one after another, the Lai administration shifted to the non-countersignature mechanism under Article 37 of the Constitution. The opposition, anticipating that a no-confidence vote would only replace the premier and that the president could use it to dissolve the Legislative Yuan, has also declined to cooperate, leaving the two sides deadlocked and sharply opposed.

Kuomintang Chair Cheng Li-wun said the Executive Yuan had finally returned to the constitutional track, but that this was not a concession by Cho to the Legislative Yuan, nor a gesture of goodwill by the Executive Yuan, but rather a constitutional duty the premier should have fulfilled all along. She stressed that the Executive Yuan cannot interpret budget authority as a blank authorization of executive power, and that "classified" cannot become a pass for black-box procurement. Cheng also said that in the past, when Cho handled laws passed by the Legislative Yuan on third reading through non-countersignature, the Executive Yuan constantly created constitutional conflicts, and that its current willingness to countersign merely marks a return to the proper track.