Taiwan’s president to seek an extra $40 B for military

President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan said his government would introduce a $40-billion special budget for military spending that will focus on acquiring more of the nimble, mobile weapons from the United States that it needs to deter and outsmart China’s far larger military forces.

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The proposed spending, which would be in addition to the main annual military budget, is politically important for Lai’s government, which has come under pressure from the Trump administration to increase defense outlays. Beijing asserts that Taiwan is its territory, and says that it could use armed force to take the island if it deems necessary.

Lai announced the military spending goal at a news conference in Taipei on Wednesday and laid out other proposed steps to counter what he described as a growing threat posed by China’s military intimidation and political infiltration.

“History demonstrates that compromising with aggressors ultimately brings only endless aftermaths of war and subjugation,” Lai said, citing the example of Western appeasement of Nazi Germany before World War II. Defending Taiwan, Lai said, “must be the shared responsibility of the government, opposition parties and all Taiwanese people.”

He said that the special budget, which amounts to 1.25 trillion Taiwanese dollars, would also be used to build up the island’s domestic weapons industry by 2033. Lai’s proposal must be approved by Taiwan’s legislature, where it may be blocked by opposition parties.