Taiwan president increased defense spending to counter Chinese threat

Taiwan must boost deterrence to fend off China, President Tsai Ing-wen said in an interview with BBC.

“The cost of taking over Taiwan is going to be enormous,” Tsai said, adding, “What we need to do is increase the cost.”

Over the past years, the president has bolstered the nation’s defense, including implementing military reforms, encouraging domestic arms production, and increasing the defense budget, which reached NT$606.8 billion (US$18.85 billion). “Our military capability is much strengthened compared to eight years ago. The investment we have put in to military capacity is unprecedented,” Tsai said.

Additionally, she underscored the importance of regional partners “to form a collective deterrence” as another form of deterrence. “A lot of other countries in the region are alert and some of them may have a conflict with China,” she said, including in the South China Sea. “So, China is not an issue for Taiwan only. It is an issue for the whole region.”

On sovereignty, Tsai said there was no need for a referendum or to declare independence because Taiwan is already an independent nation. “We are on our own. We make our own decisions; we have a political system to govern this place. We have a constitution, we have laws, we have a military. We think that we are a country, and we have all the elements of a state,” Tsai said.

Chinese military activity and gray zone tactics around Taiwan have steadily ramped up in recent years. Chinese coast guard ships have also begun crossing into prohibited or restricted waters of Taiwan’s Kinmen and Matsu islands, as part of Beijing’s gray zone tactics.