TAIPEI – Taiwan plans to spend an extra $40 billion on its defenses, President Lai Ching-te said in a commentary in the Washington Post, a long-telegraphed move he described as necessary to deter China from using force against the democracy.
The expenditure will be part of a supplementary budget the government will introduce to “not only fund significant new arms acquisitions from the United States, but also vastly enhance Taiwan’s asymmetrical capabilities,” Lai wrote on Tuesday.
“No country will be more determined in safeguarding Taiwan’s future than our own,” Lai said — a comment that follows President Donald Trump saying while campaigning last year that the self-governed archipelago “should pay” for U.S. protection from Chinese military aggression.
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