Taiwan is widening extra combat pay to most of its troops, good news for soldiers but another cost for a defense budget already stretched thin.

• President Lai Ching-te announced a new third tier of combat pay, backdated to July 1, worth NT$4,000 a month per person.
• It goes to support units below brigade level that keep front-line troops fighting — roughly a third of all military positions.
• The full-year cost runs to about NT$3.57 billion, paid for now out of personnel funds, with a supplementary budget request already filed.
• Only about 13% of military positions are still left out of combat pay entirely.
• The change reflects a shift toward joint operations, where support and engineering units are treated as part of the fight rather than the rear.

Outlook: Next year's funding is already before the legislature, so the fight now moves to lawmakers reviewing the defense budget.