Capitol Hill Briefing 

# Taiwan’s Defense Budget: How Taipei’s Free Riding Risks War 

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Date and Time 

October 9, 2007 12 - 1:30 PM EDT 

Location 

188 Russell Senate Office Building 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **Justin Logan**, Cato Institute; and **Ted Galen Carpenter**, Cato Institute. 

Taiwan spends far too little on its own defense, in large part because the Taiwanese believe the United States is their ultimate protector. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s political leaders are creating the worst possible combination: the provocative cross-strait policy of President Chen Shui-bian and the opposition-dominated legislature’s irresponsible policy on defense spending. A bold cross-strait policy coupled with inadequate defense spending virtually invites a Chinese challenge, and America would be caught in the middle. Please join us for an analysis of the dangers inherent in the U.S.-China-Taiwan relationship, and a proposal for a new way forward.

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