Funding appropriated for defense projects should be sufficient to strengthen the “resilience shield” before essential assistance arrives, a former Georgian defense minister said at a forum in Taipei yesterday.
Former Georgian minister of defense Tinatin Khidasheli, who heads a think tank fighting the Soviet legacy in Georgia, is a research fellow at the Taiwan Democracy Foundation.
She was asked to comment on the defense budget proposal that President William Lai (賴清德) announced yesterday, in which NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.9 billion) would be spent in the next eight years to hone the nation’s capabilities in fighting asymmetric warfare.
Photo: CNA
“Let me be very straightforward: No amount of money that Taiwan, Georgia, or Estonia can allocate for defense will ever be sufficient — on its own — to counter hybrid warfare when facing a much larger and wealthier neighbor with far greater manpower,” Khidasheli said. “Even if we all die as heroes, Russia would still outnumber us. That is not the issue to think about when you put together a defense budget.”
“The defense budget for countries like us [Taiwan and Georgia] should be sufficient to shore up the ‘resilience shield’ that I was talking about. We need to be ready to be this first shield that is unbreakable before essential help comes, and I believe that should be our target, and whatever fits that scenario is a good answer,” she said.
Khidasheli said that the world is now facing a global arms race, which started with nations not learning from the war in Georgia in 2008 that Russia can act like a bully, and not taking into consideration the warning Georgia sent about Ukraine.
“The lesson was not learned even after Russia took over Crimea in 2014,” she said.
Khidasheli said that she does not have a magic number for Taiwan in terms of defense spending, but there are standards to consider when setting a budget, such as 2 to 5 percent of the GDP in NATO nations.
“We need to fight bullies with soft power, but we need to be smart about it,” she said.
Asked about the lessons that Taiwan can learn from Georgia and the leverage Taiwan can use to counter the threat from China, Khidasheli said that democracy is the biggest source of leverage, adding that maintaining democracy is the way to stand with nations on whom you rely on in case something happens.
“The Georgian reform is often called the miracle of the post-Soviet world, because we managed to defeat corruption that everybody thought was endemic and unavoidable,” she said. “What the West saw in us is that if Georgia can be successful, that would be a great message for Russia and Belarus.”
Aside from being a democratic nation, Taiwan holds greater leverage: microchips, which function as a powerful instrument that makes the nation important, she said, adding that the leverage makes others care about Taiwan.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
SIX SUBSIDIES: The monthly allowance for older farmers is to increase to NT$10,000, and NT$5,000 is to be given to homemakers under the national pension system, Lai said The government is to implement major welfare policies for disadvantaged groups, including raising the monthly allowance for older farmers to NT$10,000 and providing homemakers with NT$5,000 per month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks during a visit to Wangling Temple in Chiayi County, saying that the planned increases were being introduced amid economic growth and an increase in tax revenue. Touting a policy, in which the government plans to provide a monthly allowance of NT$5,000 for every child under the age of 18 in a bid to address Taiwan’s low birthrate, Lai said that if received for the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
ISOLATION: The outposts would serve as support and backup bases, forcing US forces to either face China head-on or reroute, increasing travel time and operational costs China’s outposts in the South China Sea could be used to delay and constrain foreign forces during a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, giving Beijing a critical window to carry out amphibious landing and blockade operations, a report said. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) forward operating bases on islands and reclaimed features in the South China Sea could delay foreign forces long enough for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to secure a key 48-to-72-hour window in the Taiwan Strait, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council found. The report, conducted by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, examined
RSS