Taiwan is committed to its own security and is not taking advantage of US interests in maintaining stability in the region, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday.
"Little acknowledgement has been made in the international community of Taiwan's own efforts in strengthening its security capability," said Holmes Liao (
In rebutting the Pentagon's allegation that "Taiwan may view America's resolute commitment to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as a substitute for investing the necessary resources in its own defense," Liao said that "Taiwan has spent nearly 40 percent of its total government spending on national defense."
Liao make the remark yesterday during a speech at the first Annual Convention of the International Parliamentary Forum for Asia-Pacific Security.
Parliamentarians and experts from around the world gathered at Taipei's Grand Hotel yesterday for discussions on a number of topics related to security in the Asia-Pacific region.
"Considering the defense expenditures of Britain and Germany before World War II of around 30 percent of their total government budgets, Taiwan has been preparing for a war for a long time," Liao said. "The government in Taipei is resolutely committed to safeguarding its own security."
Australian Senator David Johnston said China's military build-up might not be a worrying as some people suggest.
"Whilst China's increasing military might is a concern and always has been, this should be looked at in perspective," he said.
"The build-up is significant and worrying," Johnston said, but "the context of that buildup is in the face of a US defense budget increase of 30 percent, 2,200 deployed [intercontinental ballistic missiles] and 4,000 stored in the US.
"The reality is that there is a substantial gap between the PRC's NT$20 billion annual budget and the US annual budget of NT$400 billion," he said.
Johnston said there were three other factors that had to be considered when discussing China's military.
First, through CNN's broadcasting of the demonstration of US military might in Iraq and Afghanistan, China feels that it lags far behind in terms of military technology.
Second, "they have an Islamic insurgency in Xinjiang Province on their western border. That is causing some problems and it's a threat of terrorism that they are not suited to," Johnston said.
Third, while traditionally North Korea has been China's ally, China has come to realize that North Korea's volatility and instability make it dangerous.
Johnston said that the growing insecurity felt by China should also be considered when examining China's increasing military capabilities.
"These are issues that people tend to ignore when assessing China's position," he said.
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