TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Wednesday said it is impossible to raise defense spending to 10% of GDP.
Cho told the legislature, "It is impossible to allocate more than NT$2 trillion (US$60.73 billion) for defense spending, given the current central government's budget scale,” per CNA. Based on the government’s 2025 GDP estimate of NT$26.88 trillion, 10% would mean a NT$2.68 trillion national defense budget.
The Cabinet proposed a 2025 defense budget of NT$647 billion, or 2.45% of the GDP. However, opposition lawmakers cut NT$8.4 billion, or 1.3%, from the proposal. Nevertheless, Taiwan’s defense budget increased by 5.2% compared to 2024.
After the unprecedented opposition budget cuts, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said he would propose a special budget to raise defense spending to over 3% of GDP.
Cho’s statement comes as US officials, including President Donald Trump and his pick for Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, claimed Taiwan’s defense spending should equal over 10% of its GDP. Colby said, “I agree with President Trump that (Taiwan) should be more like 10% or at least something in that ballpark really focused on their defense.”
Cho said that Trump has made the same comments about other countries’ defense spending. He emphasized that Taiwan could not increase defense spending this year when weighing its financial capabilities against its military needs.
