Taiwan's cabinet has reluctantly countersigned a new law funding homegrown drones and defense industry, a win for local defense makers but a setback for the government's preferred spending plan.

• The cabinet approved the "strengthening defense autonomy and unmanned vehicle industry" law passed by the legislature in late August, and it now awaits the president's signature.
• Premier Cho Jung-tai called it a disappointment because the cabinet wanted a special standalone budget, while lawmakers tied the money to regular annual budgets instead.
• The law sets out roughly NT$240 billion over six years, which the cabinet is treating as a guideline it can raise as needed rather than a hard cap.
• The economics ministry will run industry development and the defense ministry will handle military purchases, a split the cabinet says avoids constitutional problems.
• A further supplementary budget, including about NT$55.9 billion, is coming and needs legislative approval to move fast.

Outlook: Attention shifts to the legislature, where the added budget will decide how quickly Taiwan's drone industry and defense purchases actually scale up.