The Executive Director of the National Defense Security Institute of the Republic of China, Li Wen-Zhong, expressed his support for U.S. President-elect Trump’s view that Taiwan should increase its military spending during an interview with Nikkei Asia. He urged the government and opposition to overcome the budget deadlock.
After taking office as the Executive Director of the National Defense Security Research Institute, Li Wen-Zhong gave his first interview to a foreign media outlet, telling Nikkei Asia, “Trump’s pressure is only part of the reason. Basically, considering Taiwan’s increasing threats from China, our country should significantly increase defense spending.”
Li Wen-Zhong believes that “in terms of Taiwan’s defense budget as a percentage of GDP, Trump advocates raising it to 10%, while Trump’s former national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, believed it should be at least 5%. I think Trump is serious about this. The key is not the specific percentage, but the significant increase in military budget based on the defense needs in the Taiwan Strait.”
Given his influence and affiliation with President Lai Ching-Te from the Democratic Progressive Party, Li Wen-Zhong’s comments clearly convey the determination of President Lai Ching-Te’s government to strengthen national defense.
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party conducted what Taiwan called the largest-scale maritime deployment in decades. With Li Wen-Zhong making these comments now, just weeks away from Trump’s return to the White House on January 20th, it is expected that Trump will demand more effort from Taiwan for its own defense.
Li Wen-Zhong mentioned, “South Korea’s defense spending accounts for 3% of GDP, Israel has reached as high as 4.5%, and this year it will reach 6.5%. We don’t need to compare ourselves to Ukraine, which is under aggression, but neighboring Poland’s ratio is 5%.” He pointed out that the threats Taiwan faces are even greater, yet Taiwan’s current defense budget accounts for only about 2.5% of GDP.
“I personally think Trump is right. Taiwan should increase defense spending, and we should achieve this in the coming year,” Li Wen-Zhong said.
However, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party faces resistance from the opposition alliance led by the majority party Kuomintang in the Legislative Yuan. The Kuomintang holds a different view on defense spending.
Kuomintang legislator Hsu Chiao-Hsin recently stated during a discussion at the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club, “Which country in the world has a defense budget that accounts for 10% of GDP? None. 5% is already the limit, and 3% is already high for us.”
(Source: Central News Agency)