Taiwan’s Defense Ministry responded on Tuesday regarding news circulating about the possibility of arms purchases from the U.S. The news came after President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) recently held a high-level national security meeting, announcing plans to allocate a special budget to ensure Taiwan’s annual defense budget would exceed 3% of GDP.
An exclusive report from Reuters on Monday also stated that Taiwan is considering purchasing USD$7 billion to USD$10 billion worth of military equipment from the United States. The proposed acquisition includes the Coastal Defense Cruise Missile System (CDCM) and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
Regarding the future direction of the special budget allocation, the Defense Ministry said plans for the military build-up were made after a careful assessment of existing threats. Current priorities include developing asymmetric warfare capabilities, strengthening defensive resilience, boosting reserve forces, and countering gray zone tactics.
The Defense Ministry declined to comment on military procurement details reported by foreign media as this is still being ironed out but Defense Ministry Spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said that all defense budgets follow government policy and that plans will be disclosed to the public once these have been finalized.