Taiwan Announced Billions More for Defense. Here’s How It Can Deliver. |
In a Washington Post op-ed last November, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te committed his country to raising defense spending from roughly 2.4 percent to 3.3 percent of GDP in the next year and to 5 percent by 2030. Lai also announced a $40 billion supplementary defense budget that will fund “significant new arms acquisitions” and enhance “asymmetrical capabilities.”
To partners in Washington, Tokyo, and beyond, those are welcome numbers that suggest Taipei is beginning to shoulder more of the deterrence burden against Beijing’s accelerating military buildup and coercive pressure. They sound like long-awaited proof that Taipei is finally putting real money behind deterrence. But on its own, the pledge is ironically cheap talk: big figures without a clear system to turn them into measurable gains for Taiwan’s military readiness.
In a Washington Post op-ed last November, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te committed his country to raising defense spending from roughly 2.4 percent to 3.3 percent of GDP in the next year and to 5 percent by 2030. Lai also announced a $40 billion supplementary defense budget that will fund “significant new arms acquisitions” and enhance “asymmetrical capabilities.”
To partners in Washington, Tokyo, and beyond, those are welcome numbers that suggest Taipei is beginning to shoulder more of the deterrence burden against Beijing’s accelerating military buildup and coercive pressure. They sound like long-awaited proof that Taipei is finally putting real money behind deterrence. But on its own, the pledge is ironically cheap talk: big figures without a clear system to turn them into measurable gains for Taiwan’s military readiness.
Though Lai’s stated commitment is dense with programs and platforms, it is thin on answers to the basic management questions that will decide whether these promises matter: Who is on the hook this year for delivering which outcomes, on what timeline, and with which resources? Money without discipline is just a press release, not a plan.
Taiwan’s military problems—whether readiness, reserve mobilization, or munitions stockpiles and backlogs—don’t stem from a lack of intent but execution drift. In recent years, Taipei has shown a willingness to........