Taiwan will introduce a $40 billion supplementary defence budget to reinforce its commitment to self-defence amid escalating pressure from China, President Lai Ching-te said on Wednesday.
Presenting the T$1.25 trillion ($39.89bn) proposal, Lai said history had shown that attempts to compromise in the face of aggression lead only to “enslavement”.
“There is no room for compromise on national security,” he said at a press conference at the presidential office.
“National sovereignty and the core values of freedom and democracy are the very foundation of our nation.”
Lai, who first revealed the additional funding in a Washington Post op-ed on Tuesday, said the move highlights Taiwan’s resolve to defend itself.
“It is a struggle between defending democratic Taiwan and refusing to submit to becoming ‘China’s Taiwan’,” he said, framing the issue as more than a debate over “unification versus independence”.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has intensified military and political pressure over the past five years to push its claims pressure Taiwan firmly rejects.
Earlier in Beijing, a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office accused Taipei of letting “external forces” influence its decisions.
“They squander funds that could be used to improve people’s livelihoods and develop the economy on purchasing weapons and currying favour with external powers,” spokesperson Peng Qingen said. “This will only plunge Taiwan into disaster.”
With Washington urging Taiwan to increase its own defence spending similar to US expectations of European allies Lai said in August that he hoped defence expenditure would reach five per cent of GDP by 2030.
Government figures show that in 2026, defence spending is set to reach T$949.5bn ($30.3bn), or 3.32pc of GDP, surpassing the 3pc mark for the first time since 2009. Lai had previously hinted at extra defence funding but had not given specifics.
The United States, although without formal diplomatic ties to Taiwan, is legally obligated to provide it with defensive capabilities.
But since President Donald Trump took office in January, Washington has approved only one new arms sale to Taiwan a $330 million package for fighter jet and other aircraft parts announced this month.
“The international community is safer today because of the Trump administration’s pursuit of peace through strength,” Lai wrote in The Washington Post.
