China's military wins on quantity, but Taiwan's navy and air force beats Beijing on quality, Japan said in a defense analysis released yesterday.
"China maintains an overwhelming force of arms," the Japanese Defense Agency said in a white paper monitoring the defense strength of its neighbors.
The country's navy and air force "overpowers Taiwan in terms of quantity, but Taiwan has advantage in terms of quality," the paper said.
With 1.7 million troops, 770 ships -- including 65 submarines -- and 3,600 aircraft, China has the largest army in the world, said the report.
Beijing's defense budget for 2001 jumped 17 percent, its highest gain since 1996, noted Japan, adding that the figure marked a double-digit surge for the 13th consecutive year since 1989.
Taiwan is now reducing its troops to 400,000 from 470,000, with 340 military ships and 620 aircraft, it said.
"It is necessary to watch moves closely, including the modernization of military strength in both China and Taiwan as well as arms sales from the United States to Taiwan," the report said.
North Korea was stepping up its military "despite economic difficulties," the paper said.
The Stalinist state is deploying mid-range missiles and mass-destruction arms while maintaining a large-scale special corps.
"Such moves have intensified military tension on the Korean peninsula and are regarded as gravely uncertain elements for security across East Asia, including Japan," it said.
Tokyo has been irked by North Korea's missile development since Pyongyang test-fired a ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean in August 1998. Japan and North Korea have no diplomatic relations.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had cut defense budgets following the 1997 economic crisis in the region, said the official document.
But the ASEAN members are now poised to resume modernizing their military on the back of an economic recovery, it said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique