President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday pledged to increase next year’s national defense budget to more than 3 percent to bolster the nation’s self-defense capabilities.
Speaking in English at the opening ceremony of the annual Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue in Taipei, cohosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation, Lai said that this year’s event would focus on three major themes closely linked to Taiwan’s development: Indo-Pacific security, whole-of-society defense in democratic countries, and the strategic integration of economic, technological and industrial diplomacy.
The forum — which gathers leaders from around the world, including from the US, the UK, Canada and France — would help democratic countries find more ways to “work together for a more secure Indo-Pacific and more prosperous world,” he said.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
“As authoritarianism continues to expand, democratic nations must join even closer in solidarity to defend our values,” he said. “Taiwan holds a key position on the first island chain, making us a keystone of Indo-Pacific peace and stability.”
As such, the government remains committed to maintaining the “status quo” and ensuring peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, he added.
Working toward that goal, Taiwan has been enhancing its whole-of-society defense and resilience, specifically by making July “National Solidarity Month,” and combining last month’s annual Han Kuang military exercises with expanded civil participation, testing the readiness of government agencies and the public to address “extreme situations” through military-civilian cooperation, he said.
Alongside those efforts, the government is continuing to reform and invest more resources into national defense, and “next year’s defense will reach a target of over 3 percent of GDP,” he said.
Taiwan would also continue to enhance its economic resilience and advance its economic security, Lai said.
“While we further deepen our economic and trade cooperation with other countries, we will keep upgrading our Five Trusted Industry Sectors of semiconductors, artificial intelligence, military, security and surveillance and next-gen communications,” he said.
A nation’s strength and democratic footing are grounded in its economy, and by working together, democracies can create “more robust, more resilient global democratic supply chains,” creating more economic prosperity, while further consolidating democracy, he said.
“Peace in the Taiwan Strait is not just a regional issue, but a shared responsibility for economic stability and security around the world,” he added.
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