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.”
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
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
RSS