Taiwan responds to Trump comments, says defense spending has reached historic levels

A top Taiwanese official said defense spending has reached historic levels as he responded to former President Trump’s comments earlier this week that the island nation should pay more for its defense amid threats from China.

Kuoyu Chiao, the deputy head of the North America department in Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters at a press briefing on Thursday that defense spending was at 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, and that Taipei was modernizing its military.

“In the future, Taiwan will continue to work with the United States and like-minded countries to strengthen Taiwan’s defense capability and jointly maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he said, according to a translation of the remarks provided by Reuters.

Trump, who is set to accept the GOP presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night, told Bloomberg Businessweek that Taiwan should pay the U.S. for its defense.

“We’re no different than an insurance company,” Trump said, suggesting the island nation could afford to pay for its defense because of its dominance in manufacturing semiconductor chips. “They’re immensely wealthy.”

Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai said on Wednesday that Taipei was “willing to take on more responsibility” for its defense, but noted they were increasing defense spending and reinstating a one-year mandatory service in the military.

Trump has also threatened to not defend European allies who don’t pay enough in defense spending, a point of contention in the western security alliance NATO.

He has also pledged to end the war in Ukraine before he takes office, sparking fear about how that could be accomplished without ceding territory to Russia.

While some Republicans have soured on supporting Ukraine, taking on China retains bipartisan support in Washington, as does defending Taiwan against any potential Chinese aggression.

Beijing considers Taiwan, which split from the mainland in 1949 following a civil war and a communist takeover, as historically part of its country and has vowed to unify with the island by force if necessary.

The U.S. has unofficial relations with Taiwan but has committed to supporting the country, including with arms sales. Last month, the Biden administration approved a $360 million weapons sale to Taiwan, which prompted China to cancel talks on arms control and nonproliferation.

China has stepped up its military drills and patrols around Taiwan in recent years and conducted one of its largest exercises earlier this year following the inauguration of pro-U.S. Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te.