The nominee to be the Pentagon’s senior official for the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday said that he strongly supported US President Donald Trump in saying that Taiwan should spend up to 10 percent of its GDP on defense.
Taiwan’s proposed defense budget for next year is to be 3.32 percent of GDP, and President William Lai (賴清德) in August said the goal is to hit 5 percent by 2030, as the nation seeks to bolster its deterrence against China.
John Noh told his confirmation hearing at the US Senate Armed Services Committee that Taiwan’s current moves to increase its defense spending were “all promising.”
Photo: CNA
“It was President Trump who said that Taiwan, which is an island that faces an existential threat from the People’s Liberation Army, from the Chinese military, that Taiwan should spend upwards to 10 percent of its GDP on defense. I strongly support that,” he said.
Noh was responding to a question from US Senator Roger Wicker about US arms deliveries to Taiwan under the Presidential Drawdown Authority.
Noh, who is currently serving at the Pentagon as deputy assistant secretary for East Asia, added that while he applauds Taiwan’s efforts to increase defense spending, “Taiwan absolutely needs to do its part — spend more and acquire the kind of asymmetric capabilities that will be most relevant in an invasion scenario.”
Pushed by the US, Taiwan has been working to transform its armed forces to be able to wage “asymmetric warfare,” developing more mobile and lethal weapons including missiles, as well as cheaper systems such as drones that can be used for surveillance, as well as on attack missions.
Speaking to reporters at the legislature in Taipei yesterday, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said defense spending was based on the enemy threat level.
The focus is on “asymmetric” warfare, resilience, bolstering the reserves and combating China’s “gray zone” activities, Koo said, referring to actions designed to pressure Taiwan that stop short of actual combat, such as regular military patrols near the nation.
“In fact the president has already promised that we will raise our defense spending, the core defense expenditure,” Koo said. “It will increase steadily to finally reach the 5 percent that the president has promised.”
However, he said that “overall fiscal conditions and capacity-building requirements must also be considered.”
Taiwan will continue to strengthen its ability to defend itself and is continuing with military reforms which are put into practice with real-life drills, he said.
Koo made the remarks before a legislative hearing on a NT$550 billion (US$18 billion) special budget aimed at boosting social and economic resilience. The plan includes NT$113.2 billion earmarked for hardening military communications systems, upgrading and maintaining facilities and infrastructure, and bolstering maritime defense.
Additional reporting by CNA
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