Lai said his government will propose $40 billion in additional defence spending over several years, as the democratic island seeks to deter a potential Chinese invasion.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday his government will propose $40 billion in additional defence spending over eight years, as the democratic island seeks to deter a potential Chinese invasion.
Taiwan has ramped up defence spending in the past decade as Chinese military pressure intensified, but US President Donald Trump’s administration has pushed the island to do more to protect itself.
Lai said Wednesday the military aimed to have a “high level” of joint combat readiness against China by 2027 — which US officials have previously cited as a possible timeline for a Chinese attack on the island.
“The ultimate goal is to establish defence capabilities that can permanently safeguard democratic Taiwan,” Lai said at a news conference in Taipei after announcing the $40 billion spending plan in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.
Communist China has never ruled Taiwan, but Beijing claims the island is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex it.
Lai’s announcement came as Tokyo and Beijing were locked in a weeks-long diplomatic spat that followed remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggesting Japan could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan.
The United States’ top envoy in Taiwan said he “welcomes” the government’s spending plan and urged the island’s rival political parties to “find common ground” on boosting its defences.
Lai said the extra spending would go towards new arms purchases from the United States, as well as enhancing Taiwan’s ability to wage asymmetrical warfare.
But he said the spending was not tied to Taiwan’s ongoing tariff negotiations with the United States, insisting the main goal was to “demonstrate Taiwan’s determination to defend” itself.
“We aim to bolster deterrence by inserting greater costs and uncertainties into Beijing’s decision-making on the use of force,” Lai said in the Washington Post.
His comments also follow US approval earlier this month for $330 million-worth of parts and components in Washington’s first military sale to Taiwan since Trump’s return to the White House.
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– ‘Safeguarding Taiwan’s Future’ –
Lai, who leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), previously laid out plans to boost annual defence spending to more than three percent of GDP next year and five percent by 2030, following US pressure to spend more on protecting itself against a potential Chinese attack.
The government has proposed NT$949.5 billion ($30 billion), or 3.32 percent of GDP, for defence spending next year.
The additional spending plan announced Wednesday would be spread out over eight years and exceeds the $32 billion previously revealed to AFP by a senior DPP lawmaker.
In the opinion piece, Lai said he would accelerate the development of the so-called “T-Dome” — a multi-layered air defence system — which will “bring us closer to the vision of an unassailable Taiwan, safeguarded by innovation and technology”.
“My message here is clear: Taiwan’s dedication to peace and stability is unwavering,” Lai said.
“No country will be more determined in safeguarding Taiwan’s future than our own.”
But the government may struggle to get the proposed spending approved by parliament, where the main opposition Kuomintang party, which advocates closer ties with China, controls the purse strings with the help of the Taiwan People’s Party.
Recently elected Kuomintang chairperson Cheng Li-wun has previously opposed Lai’s defence spending plans, saying Taiwan “doesn’t have that much money”.
AFP