In its annual report on the Chinese military, the Ministry of National Defense yesterday said that despite warmer cross-strait ties, China’s military budget was still growing substantially.
Although the global economic crisis has generally eased, with most countries focused on stimulating their economies and reducing national defense spending, the budget for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for this year is US$78 billion, a 7.5 percent increase from last year, the report said. The report said this was a sign that Beijing was using its economic growth to fund military expansion.
In contrast, Taiwan continues to cut defense spending, with the military’s budget for next year at its lowest level in five years, the report said, which was submitted to the legislature.
Taiwan’s defense budget for next year is NT$297.2 billion (US$9.27 billion), NT$200 million less than for this year and accounting for 16.6 percent of the nation’s entire budget, the report said.
The ministry has allocated NT$77.6 billion for the construction of living quarters for military personnel and their families, which brings the ministry’s full budget to NT$374.8 billion, or 2.73 percent of GDP — still less than the 3 percent promised by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the level it was at before the Democratic Progressive Party came to power in 2000.
The report said cross-strait relations had improved since 2008, substantiating Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) “soft strategy on soft issues” avoiding sovereignty.
Despite these developments, the report said, Beijing’s opposition to US military sales to Taiwan was stronger than ever. Beijing suspended US-China high-level military exchanges over a US$6.4 billion arms package earlier this year, saying the sale interfered with China’s “domestic” affairs.
This reaction means that although relations between Taipei and Beijing have improved, China has never abandoned the option of using military force against Taiwan.
The likelihood of such military action would be contingent on a number of developments, including a move by Taiwanese authorities toward de jure independence, the enactment of a new Constitution, a referendum on independence, serious riots or natural disasters making it impossible for the Taiwanese government to operate, Taiwan procuring weapons of mass destruction, foreign intervention in Taiwan’s domestic affairs or an international situation and military imbalance favoring use of force to resolve the Taiwan issue, the report said.
The report said that although Beijing has not urged action in launching “unification” talks with Taipei, it has more insistent about starting political negotiations, through which Beijing would seek to confirm Taiwan’s political status.
Meanwhile, a legislator yesterday said Taiwan plans to deploy cruise missiles by the end of this year.
Taiwan began mass producing Hsiung Feng 2E, or “Brave Wind,” cruise missiles after acquiring “key components” needed to manufacture the missiles and will start deploying them this year, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said.
Lin declined to specify the range of the missiles or the number to be put into service.
A source close to the ministry said the military “has produced dozens of cruise missiles.”
Ma gave an order in 2008 for the production of 300 Hsiung Feng 2E cruise missiles, the Chinese-language China Times said.
The paper said the Hsiung Feng 2E, which was developed by the military-run Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, has a range of about 800km. It can be launched on land or at sea and is reportedly capable of hitting airports and missile bases in southeast China, as well as Shanghai and Hong Kong.
ADDDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’