Taiwan's opposition KMT is softening on referendum reform while holding the line on a military drone spending bill, a mixed outcome for the government's defense push.

• The KMT agrees to merge all referendum questions onto a single ballot, but will delay the change to next year so the election commission has time to prepare.
• This year's local elections will still use the old system of one ballot per question.
• On the special bill to buy drones and unmanned vessels, the KMT says it backs building up Taiwan's own defense industry.
• It refuses to approve open-ended spending, insisting on a fixed budget ceiling and oversight.
• The party frames unmanned systems as Taiwan's next big industry after chips, arguing the island's supply chain could make it a global production hub.

Outlook: The drone bill looks likely to pass only after a spending cap and monitoring rules are written in, which could slow how fast Taiwan arms itself.