INTERVIEW/Taiwan should spend more on defense: Ex-Canada defense head

Taipei, Aug. 6 (CNA) A former Canadian defense chief has advised Taiwan to raise its defense spending in the face of growing military threats from China to show it is determined to defend itself instead of solely relying on the United States' support.

Jason Kenney, who served as Canada's defense minister in 2015 and was Alberta premier from 2019 to 2022, told CNA in an interview Tuesday that Canada has already pledged to increase its defense spending to 5 percent of annual GDP by 2035.

The spending hike is a direct result of months-long pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called on America's allies to spend more on defense, after accusing them of taking advantage of Washington by not spending enough on their militaries.

Canada's current defense spending is around 1.37 percent of its GDP.

Kenney told CNA that though Canadians have "a lot of disagreements" with Trump, "he has been right to call on America's allies to pay their share of defense."

The former Canadian official said his country is willing to raise the defense budget to 5 percent of GDP, even though it is facing "a small fraction [of the military threat] of what Taiwan faces."

He therefore found it "very hard to understand" the debates within Taiwan on whether to increase its national defense spending, given that it is facing far more direct military coercion from Beijing.

Kenney said he did not think Taiwan could expect "any future American administration to defend Taiwan from actual Chinese military aggression if Taiwan is not willing to demonstrate its own self-defense."

Aside from serving as head of Alberta, Kenney was also the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) from 2017 until 2022.

Prior to entering Alberta provincial politics, he served in various cabinet posts under Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2015, including as minister of immigration and defense minister.

During his tenure heading Alberta, Taiwan donated 50,000 medical-grade face masks to the governments of Alberta and British Columbia, as part of the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In thanking Taiwan for the goodwill gesture at the time, Kenney took to social media to express his gratitude and posted a Taiwan flag emoji.

Asked if he has faced any threats from the Chinese government over his support of Taiwan, Kenney said he has always been "an outspoken friend of Taiwan" and he did not care about any negative responses from the People's Republic of China (PRC).

"There's no doubt the PRC was always often critical of me. But I didn't care because, as far as I'm concerned, Taiwan shares Canada's democratic values, belief in human dignity and human rights in democracy."

He believed Canadians have a moral obligation to stand with Taiwan against aggression.

Kenney is visiting Taiwan mainly to speak at the annual Taipei-based regional security Ketagalan Forum on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has co-hosted the annual Ketagalan Forum with domestic think tanks since 2017.

Through this platform, nations in the region make connections and engage in dialogue to advance peace, security, and prosperity, according to MOFA.