Taiwan boosts defenses, civilian readiness

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan is strengthening its defenses and preparing civilians for emergencies as pressure from China mounts, a security push with direct significance for the island’s large Filipino community.

Taiwan’s 2026 national defense budget, calculated under NATO standards, reached NT$949.5 billion, or 3.32 percent of gross domestic product, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Of that, NT$806 billion, up 25 percent from 2025, was allocated for military readiness, cybersecurity, command-and-control capabilities and weapons systems.

“One thing I’d like to note is that Taiwan increased its national defense allocation to 3.32 percent of its GDP in 2026,” Hsiu-chen Chang, director general of the Department of International Information Services at Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the DAILY TRIBUNE on 17 August.

Taiwan has 178,453 Filipino workers with valid employment permits as of March 2026, according to its Ministry of Labor. Filipinos work largely in manufacturing and social welfare, including caregiving.

For them, evacuation procedures, emergency communications, disaster response and continuity of essential services could become critical during a major crisis.

President Lai Ching-te on Monday proposed a record NT$1.1225-trillion defense budget for 2027, saying the allocation was an investment in peace and Taiwan’s ability to defend itself.

Taiwan’s preparations extend beyond its armed forces. Urban resilience and air-defense exercises involving government agencies, schools, businesses and civilians have included evacuations, sheltering, traffic control, disaster rescue and simulated communication disruptions.

Separate whole-of-society exercises have tested the ability of governments and civilian organizations to maintain essential services during war or a major crisis.

The preparations come amid continued Chinese military activity around Taiwan.

SEF Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia said Taiwan was not facing open conflict but sustained pressure from Beijing.

“Although we do not see any conflict across the Taiwan Strait now... we are seeing that they are using gray zone operations and, of course, legal means, psychological warfare and cognitive warfare to reach their political purpose here in Taiwan,” Luo said.