China’s buildup of sea and air military power funded by a strong economy appears aimed at the US, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday.
Admiral Michael Mullen said China had the right to meet its security needs, but the build-up would require the US to work with its Pacific allies to respond to increasing Chinese military capabilities.
“They are developing capabilities that are very maritime focused, maritime and air focused, and in many ways, very much focused on us,” he told a conference of the Navy League, a nonprofit seamen’s support group, in Washington.
“They seem very focused on the US Navy and our bases that are in that part of the world,” he said.
China in March unveiled its official military budget of US$70.24 billion for this year, the latest in nearly two decades of double-digit rises in declared defense spending.
Mullen acknowledged that “every country in the world has got a right to develop their military as they see fit to provide for their own security.”
But he said the build-up propelled by fast economic growth required the US and allies or partners like South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand to work together to “figure out a way to work with [China]” to avoid miscalculations.
Mullen’s comments followed remarks by US President Barack Obama’s top adviser on Asia on Friday calling for high-level talks with the Chinese military to reduce mistrust.
Meanwhile, Beijing yesterday sought to rebuff Australian concerns about its military buildup, saying it was committed to peaceful development.
Canberra’s Defense White Paper said China must be more open about its military expansion or risk alarming neighbors, warning security jitters caused by a more capable China would extend far beyond Taiwan.
Australia’s plans include the purchase of 12 advanced new submarines that experts said could alarm China and accelerate an arms race in the Western Pacific.
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) said China was only interested in peace, repeating the government’s standard line when other nations tell of their concern about the growing Chinese defense budget.
“China is going along the path of peaceful development. We pursue a defensive defense policy. China is a positive force for maintaining regional stability and world peace,” Ma said.
“China’s military modernization will not threaten any country. I think related countries ought to look at this more objectively and without prejudice,” he told a news briefing.
But a report this week in the Global Times, a popular Chinese tabloid that often takes a hawkish slant on foreign policy issues, slammed the white paper for exaggerating the “China threat.”
It quoted Meng Xiangqing (孟祥青), a researcher at the National Defense University in Beijing, where People’s Liberation Army officers receive advanced training, as saying the Australian policy document was “typical of a Western Cold War mentality.”
“On the one hand, it shows that China’s developing military strength has indeed attracted Australia’s concern,” Meng said. “On the other hand, it shows that Australia is constantly seeking to strengthen its ties with the United States.”
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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