Taiwan President Announces $40 Billion in New Defense Spending to Counter China
Udumbara
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TAIPEI, Taiwan—China is “accelerating” its military preparations to achieve its goal of forcibly seizing Taiwan by 2027, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te warned on Nov. 26, while announcing a special defense budget of $40 billion to confront the Chinese military threats.
“There is no room for compromise on national security,” Lai said, according to a translation of his remarks in Mandarin.
“National sovereignty and the core values of freedom and democracy are the very foundation of our nation.
“This is not an ideological struggle, nor a dispute over ‘unification versus independence.’ It is a struggle to defend ‘democratic Taiwan’ and to refuse to submit to being ‘China’s Taiwan.’”
The short-term goal of the special budget is to achieve a “high-level” of joint combat readiness against China before 2027 to effectively deter threats from China, Lai said. The ultimate goal, he added, is to build a defense force capable of “permanently safeguarding a ‘democratic Taiwan.’”
Wellington Koo, Taiwan’s defense minister, said at the press conference that the budget would also be used to purchase military items, including precision artillery, long-range precision-strike missiles, and equipment and systems jointly developed by Taiwan and the United States.
Taiwan
Lai’s announcement comes as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is stepping up efforts to infiltrate Taiwan. Recently, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council reported that 168 people were charged in 2024 for Chinese infiltration operations in Taiwan, compared with 86 in 2023 and 28 in 2022.The CCP claims Taiwan as a breakaway province that should be “reunited” with the mainland, even though it has never ruled the self-governing island.
“Constantly launching multifaceted threats and attacks against neighbouring countries at every turn is not the conduct expected of a responsible major power,” Lai said in response.
When asked about whether he was worried about U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to China next year, Lai said the current U.S.–Taiwan relationship is “rock-solid.”
“Recently, before his trip to Asia, President Trump specifically emphasised that ‘Taiwan is Taiwan’ and President Trump [said he] personally respects Taiwan. These two brief statements say it all,” Lai said, referring to comments Trump made before departing for a trip in Asia last month.
US Response
The special defense budget will need to be passed by Taiwan’s parliament, which is currently dominated by opposition parties.Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang, didn’t directly say that the party would vote against the special budget, but called on Lai to “step back from the brink.”
“I also hope the international community can understand that the people of Taiwan love peace and firmly desire peace. We want to stay far away from the flames of war, we want to avoid war,” Cheng told a party meeting.
“The United States supports Taiwan’s rapid acquisition of critical asymmetric capabilities needed to strengthen deterrence, consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and decades of commitment across multiple U.S. Administrations,” Greene added.
“The entire world has a stake in ensuring that differences across the Taiwan Strait are resolved peacefully and free from coercion.”
Lai’s announcement was first made public in his opinion article published in the Washington Post on Nov. 25.
“We encourage our colleagues in Taiwan’s parliament to work with the Lai Administration on a bipartisan basis to swiftly enact this special budget into law. Doing so can demonstrate that legitimate political differences will be set aside when it comes to matters related to the urgent needs associated with the defense of Taiwan,” Wicker wrote.
