Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) said yesterday the Chinese military has conducted more than 30 military exercices focusing on Taiwan.
Lee said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been growing in strength, and its military drills have been conducted under Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) principle of "talk less while doing more, hide the real but show the fake" (少說多做、隱真示假).
He highlighted the Chinese military threat yesterday morning during a meeting of the legislature's National Defense Committee. He said the Chinese military drills had emphasized landings on Taiwan, and the Chinese military believed it could land in a short period of time.
Lee said China has more than 20 satellites which were able to monitor Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait 24-hours a day. He said the quantity and quality of Chinese warships and submarines were increasing, and its power projection capabilities are also advancing.
Lee said China was also believed to be developing its first aircraft carrier. He said if China built an aircraft carrier force, it would be able to attack Taiwan from more directions.
Lee said China had targeted about 900 ballistic and cruise missiles at Taiwan, and the numbers were increasing at around 75 to 100 per year. China was also developing new missiles, Lee said.
He said about 500 advanced fighter jets with long-range missiles had also been deployed at China's military bases.
Lee noted that China had earmarked 351 billion yuan (US$45 billion) for its defense budget this year, an increase of 53 billion yuan over last year.
It was the the sharpest rise in the defense budget in a decade and a 17.8 percent increase in Beijing's military budget, he said.
Lee warned the military balance between China and Taiwan has been tipping in favor of Beijing.
The gap would increase if Taiwan did not build an advanced military force, he said.
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