‘We need a more effective way to defend ourselves,’ says Taiwan’s former military chief

Taipei – Taiwan’s military is not preparing fast enough for a potential Chinese invasion and might not be able to fight back effectively without a fundamental shift in its defense strategy, former Taiwanese military chief retired Adm. Lee Hsi-min warned in an exclusive interview with The Japan Times.

Concerned about the rapidly expanding capabilities of China’s much larger People’s Liberation Army, Taipei has been ramping up defense spending in recent years, taking incremental steps to bolster the island’s defenses and step up domestic military-industrial capabilities.

However, this is “not enough as the funds are not always being spent the right way,” said Lee, who served over 40 years in the Taiwanese Navy and was chief of the General Staff of the Republic of China between 2017 and 2019.