Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has proposed a confidential budget of TWD 1.82 billion (USD 56.71 million) for the coming year. This budget marks the largest allocation in six years, a significant increase of 53.48 percent over the previous year’s TWD 1.18 billion.
According to Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan’s Budget Centre, the proposal also reflects a 142.48 percent rise from last year’s confidential spending of TWD 751.16 million. This increase has spurred debates over the transparency of these funds.
The confidential budget, which will comprise 6.01 percent of the Ministry's overall budget, is designed to safeguard Taiwan’s diplomatic and intelligence operations. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that these funds will be managed in accordance with the Enforcement Rules of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act. This act allows for the classification of information to prevent substantial or severe threats to Taiwan's national security, particularly in areas like diplomatic negotiations and intelligence.
However, the Budget Centre has urged the Ministry to increase transparency. They argue that under government information freedom principles, expenditures should be more accessible to public scrutiny. This transparency, they contend, will ensure that public funds are used responsibly.
The centre also noted that despite amendments to the Classified National Security Information Protection Act made last year—which limit indefinite classification of information—many documents remain undisclosed. Of the 47,978 classified records within the Ministry that date back to before 2003, only 2,663 have been reclassified, leaving thousands of documents classified for over 17 years.
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