WASHINGTON – Taiwan needs to dramatically hike defence spending to around 10 per cent of gross domestic product in order to deter a war with China, President Donald Trump’s nominee to become a top Pentagon policy adviser said on March 4.
Mr Elbridge Colby, the nominee to become under secretary of defence for policy, admonished Taiwan for doing too little now, saying its defence spending was “well below” 3 per cent of GDP.
“They should be more like 10 per cent, or at least something in that ballpark, really focused on their defence. So we need to properly incentivise them,” Mr Colby said, at his Senate confirmation hearing.
The remarks come as tensions climb between the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies, which edged deeper into a trade war on March 4 as China retaliated following steep tariffs imposed by Mr Trump.
China and the US are also competing for military influence in Asia.
For years, China has been steadily ramping up its military pressure to assert its sovereignty claims over the democratic, self-governed island that is home to a critical chip manufacturing vital to the global economy.
The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei.
Mr Colby told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Washington had important national security interests in Taiwan, even if the island’s status was not “existential” to the US.
“Losing Taiwan, Taiwan’s fall, would be a disaster for American interests,” Mr Colby said.
He cautioned the military balance of power between China and the US had “deteriorated dramatically” in China’s favour. Reversing that trend would be among his top priorities.
“It would be essentially my number one, or one of my very top priorities, if confirmed, to try to get us prepared as quickly as possible, and then over the medium and longer term as well,” Mr Colby said.
Mr Elbridge Colby, attending a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, on March 4.PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has said his government would aim to increase defence spending to 3 per cent of its GDP this year, but the island’s parliament has passed budget cuts that could hit defence outlays.
That has triggered concerns in Washington, where officials and lawmakers have regularly said the US cannot show more urgency over Taiwan’s defence than the island itself.
Mr Colby said he was “profoundly disturbed” by the chance that Taiwan could cut its defence spending.
Nonetheless, Taiwan is exploring buying arms worth billions of dollars from the US, sources briefed on the matter have told Reuters, hoping to win support from the Trump administration as China continues to apply military pressure on the island. REUTERS
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