Taiwan’s current financial situation would make it difficult to reach the target, recently set by Senator McCain, of allocating 3 percent of its gross national product (GDP) to its national defense.
Sputnik News
Date: June 10, 2016
“Taiwan’s current financial situation would make it difficult to reach the government’s target of allocating 3 percent of the gross national product (GDP) to national defense,” the local media quotes Premier Lin Chuan as saying.
According to a government website on national statistics, its GDP in 2016 will reach 16.9 billion New Taiwan Dollars (TWD) ($522 mln).
If it allocates 3% of its GDP to the defense needs, it will be 509 million TWD ($15.7 mln) against 400 million TWD ($12.4 mln) currently planned by the government.
McCain’s surprise call for the country to spend 3% of its GDP on its national defense came during his visit to the island last week while he met with the country’s President Tsai Ing-wen. [FULL STORY]