The U.S. Senate approved Elbridge Colby's nomination as Under Secretary of Defense on Tuesday (April 4). As a person who is concerned about Taiwan's military spending, he said last month that he was deeply disturbed by the Taiwan Legislative Yuan's military spending cuts, and advocated that the US military should shift its strategic focus away from areas outside of China.
Taiwan media "Central agency” reported that the Senate passed Corborg’s nomination by a vote of 54 to 45, with veteran congressman Mitch McConnell being the only Republican congressman to vote against it. Corbage, who graduated from a prestigious university, served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Military Development in "Trump 1.0".
Kobberg said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last month that Taiwan's defense spending as a percentage of real gross domestic product (GDP) is still far below 3%, and agreed with President Donald Trump's view that Taiwan's defense budget should be close to 10% of GDP, or at least within this range. He mentioned that one of his goals after taking office was not only to avoid unnecessary conflicts in the Taiwan Strait, but also that the core interest of the United States was to prevent China from achieving regional hegemony.
When Ko was asked by lawmakers about his views on Taiwan's congressional cuts in military spending, he said it made him deeply uneasy. In his policy communications and advice related to Taiwan, he continues to use every possible means to encourage Taiwan to have a more capable military. He stressed that it is unfair to the United States and not a viable strategy for the U.S. military to take risks while its allies are unwilling to fulfill their responsibilities. He also wrote to the media saying that Taiwan lacks a sense of urgency in significantly strengthening its national defense, and believes that Taiwan's defense spending should be at least 5% of GDP.
In addition, the Pentagon requires the military to have the ability to win two wars at the same time in its 2022 National Defense Strategy. However, as the global situation changes, last year the National Defense Strategy Commission called on the US military to establish a force that can respond to threats in multiple war zones at the same time, emphasizing that it should have the ability to "defend the homeland while responding to challenges in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East."
However, Corborg said at the meeting that the US military is actually only capable of dealing with one large-scale war, and advocated that the Department of Defense should readjust its strategic focus from areas outside of China, especially to gradually fade out of the Middle East and Europe, to ensure that strategic goals are consistent with limited resources; McConnell said in a statement that abandoning Ukraine and Europe, downplaying the importance of the Middle East, and focusing on the Indo-Pacific region is not a smart move in terms of geopolitics.
Kobberg pointed out that the current global threats are urgent and the risks of multi-line operations are extremely high. The United States must formulate a pragmatic and feasible national defense plan. He bluntly stated that "the US military does not have sufficient capabilities to fight against four opponents."
