Amid ‘volatile’ landscape, Taiwan to boost defense spending to 3% of GDP

Taipei's defense spending will exceed 3% of its $815 billion GDP to boost the island’s self-defense capabilities, Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te said Tuesday.

The increase in defense spending comes as Lai noted that the international landscape “has become more and more volatile.”

He was addressing the 9th edition of the Ketagalan Forum, focused on security dialogue in the wider Asia-Pacific region.

“The Russia-Ukraine War is still ongoing, and conflict in the Middle East has only intensified. … China’s military activities in the Taiwan Strait and East and South China Seas pose unprecedented challenges to the rules-based international order,” Lai told the forum, according to a transcript of his speech.

Taiwan's defense spending will reach a record $19 billion this year.

Lai discussed his administration’s Four Pillars of Peace action plan, which includes boosting “national defense, building economic security, demonstrating stable and principled cross-strait leadership, and promoting values-based diplomacy.”

“Our government remains committed to maintaining the status quo and ensuring peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said Lai, who completed one year in Taiwan’s highest office early this year in May.

“We recognize that peace in the Taiwan Strait is not just a regional issue, but a shared responsibility for economic stability and security around the world,” he said.​​​​​​​

Lai’s pledge to boost defense spending comes as a US Congressional Research Service report revealed that the US executive branch had notified Congress of over $28 billion in weapons sales to Taiwan between 2015 and 2025.

Military cooperation between Washington and Taipei "appears to be expanding," the report added, according to Focus Taiwan News.

Lai also said Taiwan is taking initiative to “enhance our whole-of-society defense and resilience,” which combines the island’s annual Han Kuang military exercises with new Urban Resilience drills.

“The initiative expanded civil participation and, through military-civilian cooperation, helped verify the readiness of government agencies and people throughout the nation to address extreme situations.”

Amid Taiwan’s deepening economic and trade cooperation with other countries, Lai said: “We will keep upgrading our Five Trusted Industry Sectors of semiconductors, artificial intelligence, military, security and surveillance, and next-gen communications.”