Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said Wednesday that Taiwan must enhance its military strength to ensure peace, emphasizing that this is the primary goal of national defense budget increases. President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) recently announced that defense spending will rise to 3% of GDP through a special budget allocation. Koo says strengthening self-defense is essential for building collective deterrence with allied nations and preventing war.
The U.S., however, continues urging Taiwan and its allies to boost military spending and to take more responsibility for their defense. U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy nominee Elbridge Colby argued during a Senate hearing that Taiwan’s spending remains inadequate and should be closer to 10% of GDP.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Taiwan’s representative to the U.S. Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) said Taiwan's defense budget has doubled over the past decade. He reaffirmed that President Lai has committed to increasing the defense budget to over 3% of GDP and added that the U.S. has approved 48 arms sales to Taiwan, totaling US$26 billion over the past eight years.