Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has pledged to raise the budget for defense to 3 percent of the GDP. Lai’s pledge takes place at a time of substantial budget cuts pushed for by the Kuomintang (KMT), which controls the legislature. Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has accused the KMT of slashing 34 percent of available government operational funding. 

The budget cuts will impact defense projects such as Taiwan’s domestic submarine program, as well as its drone program, considered of key importance in Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen asymmetric defense. A defense industry cluster in Chiayi, including for a drone training facility that was announced last December, will see its budget reduced by 30 percent Taiwan’s Coast Guard has warned that it may not have enough money to pay shipbuilders at a time when the service is increasingly called to respond to gray-zone activity by Chinese vessels. Likewise, 30 percent of defense-related operational expenses will be frozen, including funds for ammunition, fuel, and spare parts for military equipment.

Military recruitment is also likely to be affected by the budget cuts. The KMT budget sliced funding for the publicity budget of all government ministries by 60 percent, with the KMT claiming that government agencies use such funds to propagandize on behalf of the DPP. But the military uses these funds to advertise to potential recruits. More broadly, the ability of the government to communicate what social services it offers will be impacted by the cuts. 

The cuts to Taiwan’s defense budget have raised alarm, especially as U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to turn up pressure on Taiwan in his second term. Individuals such as Robert O’Brian, the last of Trump’s national security advisers during his first term, have called on Taiwan to

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