The Mainland Affairs Council, the nation's top cross-strait policymaking body, was skeptical yesterday over Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's vow to resolve cross-strait differences peacefully, pointing to the acceleration in military spending.
"On the one hand, Wen [Jiabao] claims to seek peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, but at the same time he resolutely calls for increased military capabilities as a guarantor of unification,"the council said in a statement.
"This clearly reflects [that China] is unwilling to forgo the use of military force against Taiwan," the statement read.
The council said that according to even publicly available figures, China's military spending is slated to increase by 12.6 percent in the coming year, bringing its total budget to US$30 billion.
"In the past, the fast growth of China's military budget and capabilities was in preparation for action against Taiwan and increasing international influence," the statement said. "This trend will become even more apparent after China passes the `anti-secession law.'"
"If China insists on resolving the cross-strait situation by passing this anti-secession law, then regional peace and stability will be destroyed," the statement said.
It added that the results would be the exact opposite of the peace that Wen said China would protect.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
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