Taiwan’s President Lai says he will propose extra $52b in defence spending

TAIPEI - Taiwan will introduce a US$40 billion (S$52 billion) supplementary defence budget to underscore its determination to defend itself, with “significant” new US arms purchases planned, President Lai Ching-te said on Nov 26.

The move comes as China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.

But Taiwan also faces calls from Washington to spend more on its own defence, mirroring pressure from the US on Europe.

In August, Mr Lai said he hoped defence spending would reach 5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.

Unveiling the NT$1.25 trillion (S$51.8 billion) package, Mr Lai said history had proven that trying to compromise in the face of aggression brought nothing but “enslavement”.

“There is no room for compromise on national security,” he said at a press conference in the presidential office.

“National sovereignty and the core values of freedom and democracy are the very foundation of our nation.”

Mr Lai, who first announced the new spending plan in an op-ed comment in the Washington Post on Nov 25, said Taiwan was showing its determination to defend itself.

“It is a struggle between defending democratic Taiwan and refusing to submit to becoming ‘China’s Taiwan’,” he added, rather than merely an ideological struggle or a dispute over “unification versus independence”.

Mr Lai had previously flagged extra defence spending, but had not given details.

The de facto US ambassador in Taipei, Mr Raymond Greene, wrote on Facebook that the United States supports Taiwan’s “rapid acquisition of critical asymmetric capabilities”.

“Today’s announcement is a major step towards maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait by strengthening deterrence,” he added.

Taiwan has been modernising its armed forces to push an “asymmetric” approach to warfare to make its forces, which are much smaller than China’s, agile and able to pack a greater and more targeted punch.

For 2026, the government is proposing defence spending would reach NT$949.5 billion. At 3.32 per cent of GDP, the figure crosses a threshold of 3 per cent for the first time since 2009, government figures showed.

Speaking earlier in Beijing, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Taiwan was allowing “external forces” to dictate its decisions.

“They squander funds that could be used to improve people’s livelihoods and develop the economy on purchasing weapons and currying favour with external powers,” the spokesperson Peng Qingen told reporters.

“This will only plunge Taiwan into disaster.”

The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties.

But since US President Donald Trump took office, his administration has so far only approved one new arms sale to Taiwan, a US$330 million package for fighter jet and other aircraft parts announced earlier in November.

“We are grateful that President Donald Trump has made clear the importance of American leadership around the world. The international community is safer today because of the Trump administration’s pursuit of peace through strength,” Mr Lai wrote in the Post.

Mr Lai said Taiwan’s ties with the United States were “rock-solid”, when asked at the news conference whether he was worried about Mr Trump’s visit to China in 2026, given the improved Washington-Beijing trade relations.

“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,” Mr Lai said, referring to comments Mr Trump made while visiting the region in October.

Mr Lai says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future. Beijing has rejected his repeated offers of talks, saying he is a “separatist”. REUTERS