Pushback on Taiwan defense budget sends wrong message: Ex-MSC chairStaff Writer, with CNAFormer Munich Security Conference (MSC) Chairman Christoph Heusgen said Tuesday that ongoing pushback in Taiwan against a NT $1.25 trillion (US$39.26 billion) defense bill due to political differences could send the wrong message to the world. Speaking to CNA in an interview in Taipei, Heusgen, who chaired the annual MSC from 2022 to 2025, said a majority of Germans now support significantly increasing their country’s defense budget despite minimal economic growth in recent years. Asked what kind of message the ongoing domestic pushback against the supplementary defense budget proposed by Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government could send to the world, Heusgen said there were two. “One message is a message of surprise,” he said. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced in November 2025 that his administration would propose a supplementary defense budget of NT$1.25 trillion to be spent over the next eight years in response to a growing Chinese threat.

Source: Taipei Times March 18, 2026 17:31 UTC