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
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS