After former US president Donald Trump said that Taiwan should devote 10 percent of its GDP to the defense budget, lawmakers, political commentators and military experts said that he was imposing a difficult demand on Taiwan and no states focused on maintaining a strong military would have the capability to do it.
Radio talk show host Huang Wei-han (黃暐瀚) on Facebook yesterday said that Saudi Arabia has the highest national defense budget at 6.6 percent of GDP, with Israel coming in second at 5.2 percent.
The US dedicates 2.5 percent of its GDP to military expenditure, he said
Photo: AFP
Taiwan would have to spend NT$2.6 trillion (US$81.7 billion) per year on the defense budget to meet Trump’s demand, even though it only has a total annual budget of NT$3 trillion, he added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said that Trump’s comments showed that he and his staffers’ understanding of Taiwan’s finances is far removed from reality.
Cross-strait relations are regressing, but the state has limited resources to distribute, she said.
Taiwan is not averse to spending money for its protection, but when the money has been spent, and the promised arms packages are repeatedly delayed, the public begins to question such expenses, she said.
Taiwan should prepare for the possible outbreak of war and seek alternative solutions to ensure that war is avoided, she added.
KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) criticized the government for its meekness and silence, saying that while Taiwan would continue to work with the US, it should not allow such misguided notions to become mainstream as it would negatively impact the nation.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Lin Yi-chun (林憶君) said Trump’s comments were just exaggerated talk geared toward boosting support for his presidential bid.
She said that Taiwan has limited resources and cautioned against hiking defense spending, as such a policy would not be to the benefit of the public.
Taiwan must consider how to rely on its own military forces to deter foreign aggression, Lin said.
The TPP’s stance on cross-strait issues is that Tawain should be prepared, capable and would not shy away from war, but it should not be actively bellicose.
Association of Strategic Foresight researcher Chieh Chung (揭仲) on Tuesday said that Trump’s unrealistic 10 percent defense spending demonstrated his unfamiliarity with the nation’s finances.
Chieh said that Taiwan’s GDP for next year is estimated at NT$26 trillion, 10 percent of which would comprise 84 percent of the nation’s expected annual expenditure of NT$3.13 trillion.
The increase would be six times the budgeted defense spending for next year, currently set at NT$476 billion, and would leave the government in deficit after paying the wages of civil servants, he said.
Chieh said that the defense budget has been boosted due to the Sea-Air Combat Power Improvement Plan Purchase Special Regulation (海空戰力提升計畫採購特別條例) and the Special Act on the Procurement of Updated Fighter Jets (新式戰機採購特別條例).
If Trump wins the US presidential election on Nov. 5, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration would have to consider increasing military spending without undermining the overall budget, Chieh said.
Kuma Academy chief executive officer Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝) on Tuesday said that Trump’s comments likely originate from Elbridge Colby, a senior defense official in his administration.
Colby expressed similar sentiments in an op-ed titled “Taiwan must get serious on defense,” in the Taipei Times on May 11.
“Given the massive disparity in military power in the Taiwan Strait, spending 5 percent of its GDP on defense should be the floor for Taiwan. Indeed, if its security and autonomy are at stake, why not spend 10 percent?” he wrote.
Ho said there is a consensus that Taiwan should increase its defense spending, but it should be a planned and incremental increase rather than a sudden spike that would jeopardize other government spending.
Additional reporting by Lin Che-yuan
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS