Taipei: Taiwan urgently needs to invest more in asymmetric capabilities, a U.S. scholar said on Friday, noting that credible deterrence requires prioritizing forces that can be deployed quickly. Michael Hunzeker, an associate professor at George Mason University, was speaking to CNA following President Lai Ching-te’s announcement earlier this week of a plan to allocate a supplementary NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.8 billion) for Taiwan’s military buildup. Hunzeker, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2000-2006, emphasized Taiwan is in “urgent need for more investment in genuine asymmetric capabilities.”

According to Focus Taiwan, beyond the need to pass the budget through the Legislative Yuan, Hunzeker also expressed a few other concerns. “First, it will take years (or longer) for some of these proposed capabilities — such as T-Dome — to become a reality,” Hunzeker said. “Credible deterrence requires prioritizing the acquisition of capabilities that Taiwan can field as soon as possible, since the CCP [Communist Party of China] will obviously not wait around until Taiwan has everything it wants and needs, to attack,” he added.

Hunzeker also warned that even the most cutting-edge weapons would be ineffective if Taiwan’s military continues to use them in outdated ways. He stressed that reforms in training, doctrine, and military culture need to come first, before money flows and new weapons arrive.

According to Lai, the NT$1.25 trillion budget will be used to fund the construction of a multilayered “T-Dome” air defense network and strengthen Taiwan’s overall defense posture over the next eight years. The T-Dome will provide low-, mid- and high-altitude air defense, incorporate artificial intelligence to improve detection and decision-making, and enhance Taiwan’s ability to intercept threats to protect military assets, critical infrastructure, and civilians, Lai said.