TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Congressional Research Service report on Taiwan’s defense challenges was released Thursday, highlighting China's growing offensive capabilities.
Written by CRS analyst Caitlin Campbell, the report said that China modernized its military over many decades to gain the capabilities required to seize Taiwan.
An amphibious assault would require the Chinese military to “cross the Taiwan Strait, establish a beachhead, and navigate mountainous regions and dense urban areas to subdue and control (Taiwan),” according to Campbell.
China engages in gray zone activities, which include large-scale military exercises; near-daily incursions in its air defense identification zone, and law enforcement activities near Taiwan’s outlying islands. It also launches disinformation campaigns and engages in political interference within Taiwan.
Some observers think these activities are intended to “sow doubt about Taiwan’s military capabilities and to create political pressure for Taipei to acquiesce to Beijing’s insistence on unification,” Campbell said.
Taiwan has ramped up efforts to bolster military readiness and civil resilience, increasing its defense budget by approximately 7.5% from 2024 to 2025. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has vowed to increase defense spending to around 3.3% of GDP in 2026.
In May, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan approved an NT$8.81 billion (US$280 million) eight-year “special defense budget” to purchase arms from the US, Campbell said. The amount was 38% lower than the Cabinet’s proposed bill. As of last Thursday, the legislature has not passed an annual defense budget for 2026, she said.
Taiwan and the US maintain close defense ties, which cover arms transfers, regular talks, and military training, the analyst said. Training takes in both countries and “these activities appear to be expanding,” she said.
Successive US administrations have urged Taiwan to pursue an asymmetric defense strategy to make it difficult for China to annex. This strategy involves “a combination of anti-ship missiles, naval mines, and other similarly small and relatively inexpensive weapons systems,” Campbell said.
Taiwan’s government has partially pursued this approach, but some defense officials believe the country still needs to invest in traditional military forces to counter gray zone pressure, she said.
Taiwan faces other obstacles in reaching its defense goals, such as recruiting, training, and retaining personnel, Campbell said. She warned that some analysts say Taiwan is not well prepared for civil defense. Its energy, food, water, communication systems, and other infrastructure could be disrupted by outside forces.
