Raising Taiwan's defense spending to 10% of GDP 'impossible': Premier

Taipei, March 12 (CNA) Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers on Wednesday that Taiwan's government "does not have the capacity" to spend 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) annually on national defense.

"It is impossible [for the government] to allocate more than NT$2 trillion (US$60.73 billion) for defense spending, given the current central government's budget scale," Cho said at the Legislature.

Taiwan's central government budgets for both 2024 and 2025 are nearly NT$3 trillion, with social welfare spending the largest expenditures.

The premier was responding to questions from Kuomintang legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) about how the government would react if the United States urged Taiwan to increase its defense budget to 10 percent of GDP.

Fu said 10 percent would be NT$2.68 trillion, based on a government 2025 GDP estimate of NT$26.88 trillion.

U.S. President Donald Trump had previously touched upon the issue during his presidential campaign, calling on Taiwan to raise its defense spending to as much as 10 percent.

The calls were renewed earlier this month by Trump's pick for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby in a Senate hearing.

Trump "has made the same demand [for defense budget increases] not only of Taiwan but also of many other countries," Cho said.

"Currently, the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) does not have the capability to allocate a defense budget of NT$2.6 trillion," he said, adding that the budget would be determined based on the country's financial capacity and military needs.

Taiwan's Cabinet had earmarked NT$647 billion for defense spending in 2025, equal to 2.45 percent of GDP, some of which was later cut or frozen by the opposition-controlled Legislature.

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) later pledged to propose a special budget to raise defense spending to over 3 percent of GDP, though that, too, would require legislative approval.

On Wednesday, Cho denied claims made by former legislator Kuo Cheng-liang (郭正亮) in a recent political talk show that Washington had urged Taipei to extend compulsory military service from the current one year to two.

There were no such discussions in the government or requests from the U.S., Cho said, stressing that "the status quo remains unchanged."