The U.S. wants Taiwan to spend more on defense. So does Taipei, but the struggle in the Legislative Yuan over President Lai Ching-te’s $40 billion special budget, unveiled in November, shows there are constraints on how quickly this can be accomplished.
Prevailing narratives simplistically blame the gridlock on a “pro-China” opposition that opposes higher defense spending. That framing is not only inaccurate, it’s unhealthy for Taiwan and for the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. Taiwan’s difficulty meeting Washington’s demands on defense spending is less a matter of political will than of economic reality. If the aim is to help Taiwan, Western pundits and politicians should stop berating the island over topline spending targets and instead engage it within the existing constraints, which cannot be wished away.
Read the full article on Nikkei Asia.
Header image: President William Lai. By Simon Liu
Asia & Indo-Pacific
The U.S. wants Taiwan to spend more on defense. So does Taipei, but the struggle in the Legislative Yuan over President Lai Ching-te’s $40 billion special budget, unveiled in November, shows there are constraints on how quickly this can be accomplished.
Prevailing narratives simplistically blame the gridlock on a “pro-China” opposition that opposes higher defense spending. That framing is not only inaccurate, it’s unhealthy for Taiwan and for the U.S.-Taiwan relationship. Taiwan’s difficulty meeting Washington’s demands on defense spending is less a matter of political will than of economic reality. If the aim is to help Taiwan, Western pundits and politicians should stop berating the island over topline spending targets and instead engage it within the existing constraints, which cannot be wished away.
Read the full article on Nikkei Asia.
Header image: President William Lai. By Simon Liu
Recent & Related
What Is Going on in Cybersecurity?
The Implications of Ukraine’s Starshield Access for the US Military
Egypt’s Parallel Inc. & the Myth of Sovereign Efficiency
Four Years to 2030: Can Member States Deliver Affordable and Clean Energy for All?
Latin America Can’t Build Regionalism Through Alignment
UNGA81: The Accountability Test for Big Tech and Multilateralism
Why Saudi Military Superiority Has Not Defeated the Houthis
Made in the Gulf, Designed in America: How the Iran War Has Incentivized Drone Production in the GCC
The Orphan of the Summit of the Future: The Declaration on Future Generations
Experts React: Takeaways from the Trump-Xi Summit
Kabuki Diplomacy Between US and Iran at UNGA
Is the Iran War Worth It? Six Months Later, Still No
Find an Expert
Home to more than 100 scholars and global affiliates, the Stimson Center is proud to be a magnet for the world’s leading experts on the most pressing foreign policy and national security issues of our time. Explore our experts and their work.