TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Ely Ratner, a principal at the Marathon Initiative, and Randall Schriver, chair of the Institute for Indo-Pacific Security, praised Taiwan’s proposed efforts to boost its defense spending and strengthen its military in a Washington Post opinion article published on Monday.
Ratner and Schriver, who both served as US assistant secretary of defense, pointed out that combining Taiwan’s regular and special defense budgets brings spending past 5% of its GDP. With the proper preparation, “Taiwan can help deter and, if necessary, block China’s aggression,” they said.
President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced a NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special defense budget last week.
The two scholars said that Taiwan has drawn significant lessons from Ukraine, which has seen drone operations play a pivotal role in its fight against Russia. Taiwan has been “investing heavily” in domestic drone development and production.
Daily Chinese gray zone activities have pushed Taiwan to acquire conventional systems such as “aircraft, ships, and sensors needed to respond to daily provocations,” they added. The scholars also noted that Taiwan plans to build resilience by spending more than half a billion dollars on cybersecurity and protecting infrastructure.
Ratner and Schriver acknowledged the challenges ahead. The Legislative Yuan needs to approve these investments, and the military needs to reform its training and operations, they said. Taiwan must also continue to build up whole-of-society resilience.
Nevertheless, the scholars agreed that “Taiwan is acting with greater seriousness and focus than ever before.”
Ratner and Schriver called on the US to use approved funds for Taiwan’s defense and work with partners in Europe and Asia to expedite arms shipments. The US defense industry should also strengthen partnerships with Taiwan to expand weapons production capacity, they added.
Helping Taiwan is in America’s interests, they argued. “A stronger, more resilient Taiwan reduces the risk of war and the danger to U.S. forces.”
