Taiwan’s 2027 defense spending to rise 16%, official media reports

ASIA PACIFIC

Taiwan’s 2027 defense spending to rise 16%, official media reports

A Taiwanese soldier stands guard as mechanics replace the engine of a CM-34 Clouded Leopard armored vehicle, during a battlefield repair drill, as part of the annual Han Kuang military exercises, in New Taipei City on Saturday. | REUTERS

REUTERS

Aug 9, 2026

Taipei – Taiwan’s Cabinet will propose a 16% annual rise in defense ?spending for 2027 that will for the first time exceed 1 trillion new Taiwan dollars ($31 billion), the official Central News Agency reported Sunday, as Taipei bolsters its military.

The move will come as China, which views democratically governed Taiwan ?as its own territory, has ramped up military ?and political pressure ?over the past few years to assert ?its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.

But Taiwan also faces calls from Washington to spend more on its own defense, mirroring pressure from ?the United States on Europe, something President Lai Ching-te has enthusiastically embraced.

The proposed budget ?of more than T$1.1 trillion, to be unveiled on Aug. 20, includes funding for the coast guard, veterans ?and special projects, and ?will — like this year — exceed 3% of gross domestic product, the Central News Agency said.

Detailed figures await ?the final Cabinet ?meeting, it added.

Taiwan’s government has made military ?modernization a key policy platform and has repeatedly pledged ?to spend ?more on its defenses, including developing made-in-Taiwan submarines, given the rising threat from China.

China’s military operates almost daily around Taiwan, and holds periodic war games, the last in late December.

China ?is also rapidly modernizing its armed forces, with new aircraft carriers, stealth fighter jets and missiles. In March, China unveiled a rise of 7% in this year’s defense spending, to 1.91 trillion yuan ($283.08 billion).

China refuses ?to ?talk to Lai, saying he is a “separatist.” He ?says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future. Taiwan is currently ?in the middle of its annual Han Kuang military exercises.

Watching drills in the northern city of Taoyuan on Sunday, Lai said every exercise was an accumulation of experience giving the military ?greater confidence.

“Every bit of solid preparation in peacetime adds another measure of stability and strength for our nation,” he said, in comments posted on his Facebook account.