Taiwan says committed to boosting own defenses in signal to Trump

Televisions broadcast the news about the US Presidential election, in Taipei on November 6, 2024. Agence France-Presse

TAIPEI — Taiwan will keep strengthening its military capabilities, a senior security official said, in an apparent signal to US President-elect Donald Trump that the island is serious about shoring up its own defenses.

Taipei has ramped up defense spending in recent years in response to China’s growing military presence around the self-ruled island — but it has been under pressure to do more.

Trump caused alarm during his campaign by suggesting Taiwan should pay the United States — the island’s most important supporter and biggest supplier of arms — for its defense.

READ: Trump says Taiwan ‘should pay’ US for defense against China

Taipei has publicly congratulated Trump on his victory, joining other governments around the world in trying to get onside with the mercurial magnate whose diplomatic style is often transactional.

“Our commitment to strengthening our own defense capabilities will only be higher, not lower,” the senior national security official said this week on the condition of anonymity.

“While we do not have any list (of planned weapon acquisitions) with Trump’s team, new progress or discussions… Taiwan is very willing to have further discussions with like-minded partners, especially the US, on how to enhance Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” the official said.

READ: Trump’s erratic foreign policy to meet ‘a world on fire’

US-Taiwan relations warmed during Trump’s first term as he feuded with China on issues like trade and national security.

Then Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen secured an unprecedented phone call with Trump after his 2016 win, a move that infuriated Beijing, and Trump also ramped up arms sales and diplomatic contacts with the island.

Taiwan’s spending on defense has increased around 80 percent in the past eight years, the official said.

Taipei allocated a record $19 billion for 2024 and next year’s budget is set to hit a new high, as it seeks to bolster a more agile defense approach.

But it remains massively outgunned compared with China’s troop numbers and firepower.

The London-based Financial Times reported on Monday that Taiwan was mulling buying a large package of arms from the United States to signal its seriousness to invest in its own defenses.

According to the report, Taipei was considering among other things requesting F-35 fighter jets.

“Relevant needs that align with our operational requirements will be proposed through” an existing military exchange mechanism with the United States, Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters on Wednesday, declining to comment on specific requests.