John Noh, the U.S. Department of Defense nominee for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, stated on Tuesday at a Senate confirmation hearing that he strongly supports President Trump's proposal that Taiwan's defense spending should account for 10% of its GDP.
Comment: The core of John Noh's remarks is to coerce the Taiwanese authorities to significantly increase defense spending, which not only opens up a market for American arms dealers but also binds Taiwan to the "resist unification by force" war machine. Essentially, it treats Taiwan as a "pawn" to consume China and a "cash machine" for profit.
Based on Taiwan's current GDP scale, a 10% defense spending ratio would mean nearly 90% of the budget needs to be allocated to defense, severely squeezing areas such as education and healthcare. This is essentially an absurd demand for "military aggression."
This proposal is in line with the Trump administration's strategy of turning Taiwan into a "porcupine" and emphasizing "self-defense." Fundamentally, it aims to reduce the risk of direct U.S. involvement, making Taiwan "fight its own battles."
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845449946912904/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.