The island state of Taiwan wants to significantly increase its defense spending in response to the military threat from its large neighbor China.
November 26, 2025, 07:16November 26, 2025, 07:16
President Lai Ching-te said Taipei was planning a “historic” additional defense budget of 1.25 trillion Taiwan dollars (around 34.4 billion euros).
Taiwanese President William Lai in front of soldiers at a ceremony.Image: keystone
Taiwan wants to use the spending planned for 2026 to 2033 to finance new arms purchases from the USA to expand its asymmetric defense capabilities, wrote Lai in a guest article for the Washington Post. The move is a response to growing pressure from Beijing. China counts the island state, which has been governed democratically for decades, as part of its territory and wants to bind Taiwan to itself – if necessary with military means.
China’s growing military power
According to Lai, Taiwan’s defense spending is expected to increase to 3.3 percent of economic output in 2026. “I am committed to raising this benchmark to 5 percent by 2030, representing the largest sustained military investment in Taiwan’s modern history,” he wrote. However, the defense spending still has to be approved by parliament, which is currently dominated by the opposition, especially the China-friendly Kuomintang.
Lai pointed to China’s military exercises in the region, which signaled Beijing’s increasing willingness to use force to change the status quo in the China-Taiwan Strait. Taiwan is steadfastly committed to peace and stability, he continued in the newspaper.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has called on Taiwan to invest more in its own military. The article also follows a diplomatic escalation between Beijing and Tokyo. This was triggered by statements by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, according to which an attack by China on Taiwan would represent an “existence-threatening situation” that could lead to Japan exercising its right to self-defense.
Conflict between China and Japan: Solidarity with Sushi
Beijing is demanding that Takaichi retract her statements and increased the pressure with, among other things, travel warnings, canceled flight connections and a ban on imports of Japanese seafood. Lai and other politicians in Taiwan showed solidarity with Tokyo and posted online about, for example, how they ate sushi or bought Japanese seafood.
Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi provided new fuel with a plan to station missiles on the island of Yonaguni in Japan’s extreme southwest. The island is located almost 110 kilometers from Taiwan. China’s foreign office criticized Japan for deliberately creating tension in the region. (sda/dpa)