Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has issued an urgent plea to the country’s parliament to approve a landmark special defence budget, warning that internal political delays could signal a lack of resolve to the international community.
The proposed plan would allocate 1.25 trillion New Taiwan dollars (approximately US$38 billion) over the next eight years to modernise the island’s military capabilities and strengthen its self-defence amid escalating regional tensions.
Speaking at a press conference in Taipei on Wednesday, Lai framed the increase as a necessary response to the shifting security landscape in Asia.
“Facing the continued expansion of China’s military threats, countries across the Indo-Pacific have increased their defence budgets,” Lai noted.
“Japan’s defence budget this year is 1.8 trillion New Taiwan dollars, South Korea’s is 1.4 trillion, and the Philippines has also raised its spending. Taiwan cannot be an exception,” he added.
The President emphasised that the timing of the budget is critical for Taiwan’s standing with its global partners, particularly the United States.
While the US government has issued a pricing package for military equipment, the actual delivery of these weapons hinges on Taiwan securing the necessary funds.
“The budget has yet to be passed. This could cause Taiwan to fall off the priority list and delay weapons deliveries, and it may also lead the international community to question Taiwan’s resolve to defend itself,” Lai noted.
Despite the massive scale of the spending, Lai insisted that the move should be viewed as a defensive measure rather than an escalation. “Increasing our defence budget to safeguard national security is absolutely not a provocation, but a demonstration of our determination to defend ourselves,” he stated.
Beijing has reacted with sharp hostility to the proposed budget, viewing it as a move toward formal independence. China maintains that Taiwan is a part of its territory and has never ruled out the use of force to achieve “unification.”
On Tuesday, Jiang Bin, the spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defence, delivered a stern warning about the island’s recent defence posture.
“From previously pushing for the deployment of weapons to launching so-called ‘preemptive strikes’, Taiwan secession separatists have become increasingly presumptuous with absurd ideas,” Jiang said. “Faced with the overwhelming strength of the PLA, any Taiwan separatist force that dares to provoke a conflict or war will inevitably face catastrophic disasters.”
As legislative debates continue, Lai warned that, “National defence cannot wait. Security cannot wait.”
The debate unfolds under the shadow of intensifying military pressure from Beijing, with near-daily air and naval activity around the island reinforcing concerns that any perception of hesitation in Taipei could be seen by China as weakness.
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