TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nearly 60% of Taiwanese support increasing the national defense budget to 3% of GDP, a recent survey conducted by the defense ministry’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) has revealed.

Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with reducing other government expenditures to increase the defense budget to 3% of GDP, CNA reported. The results showed that 17% strongly agreed, while 42% somewhat agreed.

Approximately 9% considered the defense budget to be severely insufficient, while 46% believed it to be insufficient.

Meanwhile, about 41% of those polled were willing to pay higher taxes to increase the defense budget to 3% of GDP, irrespective of gender, age, or educational level. This suggests that the public has reservations about raising the defense budget through increased taxation.

The survey was commissioned by National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center, and conducted from Nov. 12-13 through LimeSurvey. A total of 27,320 people were contacted of which 1,214 completed the poll. Additionally, 40 respondents abandoned the survey midway, and these were not included.

Taiwan’s defense budget accounts for about 2.5% of GDP. Under President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the nation has increased efforts to develop weapons and other military hardware. Most noticeably, it has begun mass production of the Brave Eagle advanced trainer and completed construction of its first-ever domestically made submarine, the Narwhal.

Taiwan has also ramped up production of missiles, including different variants of the Sky Bow, Sky Sword, and Hsiung Feng missiles.