Taipei [Taiwan], November 26 (ANI): Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has announced plans to propose a supplementary defense budget of USD 40 billion.
In an op-ed published in The Washington Post, Lai said Taiwan remains committed to maintaining peace in the Indo-Pacific region despite frequent Chinese military incursions and drills breaching the first island chain that stretches from Japan to Borneo. He said China’s rapid military buildup and “provocations in the Taiwan Strait, East and South China Seas, and across the Indo-Pacific have highlighted the fragility of peace in the region.”
According to the Washington Post, Taiwan plans a special USD 40 billion budget for arms purchases, including construction of the Taiwan Dome—an air defense system with advanced detection and interception capabilities—as the United States continues to press the island to increase its defense spending.
“As part of this effort, my government will introduce a historic USD 40 billion supplementary defense budget to not only fund significant new arms acquisitions from the US but also vastly enhance Taiwan’s asymmetrical capabilities,” Lai wrote in the editorial, as cited by Focus Taiwan. The goal, he said, is to bolster deterrence by introducing greater costs and uncertainties into Beijing’s decision-making on the use of force.
The budget will be allocated over eight years, from 2026 to 2033, and follows Lai’s pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of Taiwan’s GDP as part of a long-term strategy amid China’s ongoing threats of invasion.
The commitment comes as the administration of US President Donald Trump continues to insist that governments relying on American defense partnerships—Taiwan included—spend more on their own military capabilities.
Meanwhile, China criticized Lai’s latest moves. Peng Qing’en, spokesperson for China’s State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said Wednesday that Lai “dines on the scraps of groveling to Japan while engaging in the business of selling out Taiwan,” Global Times reported. The comments were made after Lai posted a photo on social media eating sushi to show “solidarity” with Japan and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, despite what Beijing called “erroneous remarks on Taiwan” from the Japanese leader.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Tuesday that it is an “ironclad fact” that there is only one China in the world and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory, according to Xinhua.
Lai’s op-ed comes amid escalating tensions between Japan and China following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in Parliament suggesting Tokyo could deploy its military forces in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. On November 7, she said a military attack on Taiwan could present a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. In response, Beijing suspended the resumption of Japanese seafood imports and warned its citizens against traveling to or studying in Japan.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday that Japan should provide an “honest, accurate, and complete clarification” of its so-called consistent position on Taiwan, adding that a written response issued by the Japanese government on Tuesday merely repeated its “old rhetoric,” Xinhua reported. (ANI)
About The Author
