Military experts yesterday urged the Ministry of National Defense to increase defense spending to at least NT$400 billion (US$14.15 billion).
The academics made the suggestions after China on Friday unveiled its national defense budget of 1.35 trillion yuan (US$208 billion), which is 16 times larger than Taiwan’s defense budget of NT$361.7 billion.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of the Institute of National Defense and Strategic Research’s division of defense strategy and resources, said the year-on-year increase of Chinese defense spending was political and defense-related.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The year 2027 would mark the centennial of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which it plans to celebrate by launching its third carrier, and continuing production of Type 075 amphibious assault ships, Type 096 ballistic missile submarines and H-20 stealth bombers, Su said.
The new units would allow China to stabilize its influence within the first island chain and further project its power into the second island chain, satisfying Beijing’s military and political goals, he said.
The increased production of military hardware would also be in line with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) promotion of a “dual circulation” strategy, as it would stimulate the economy, bolster the military and achieve political stability, Su said.
Su also said the ministry should scale its defense spending to at least NT$400 billion to balance the military’s upkeep costs and investment in precision munition and platforms.
National Taiwan University associate professor of political science Chen Shih-min (陳世民) said that the disparity in defense spending across the Taiwan Strait has been extant for many years, adding that the Chinese military’s near-daily incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone over the past half year is clearly hostile and threatening.
Despite this, Taiwan’s national defense has failed to comprise 3 percent of its GDP, while Israel, which faces military threats that are no less severe than Taiwan’s, has maintained defense spending equal to 5 percent of its GDP, he said.
Chen said that he was not arguing for a military arms race with China, but current defense spending would be hard-pressed to keep up with the cost of arms sales packages announced under former US president Donald Trump and President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) adoption of an indigenous arms manufacturing program.
Sheu Jyh-shyang (許智翔), a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the disparate funding available to Taiwan and Chinese militaries lends more credence to support asymmetric warfare.
Sheu cited the use of large quantities of precision munitions to target platforms developed by China, as an example of goals for Taiwan to focus on.
Tropical Storm Koinu is expected to come closest to Taiwan from Wednesday through Friday as it passes through the Bashi Channel, but it remained uncertain how it would affect the weather, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am yesterday, Koinu was about 1,000km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving northwest at 12kph, the CWA said. Koinu is likely to strengthen into a typhoon today or tomorrow and turn west as it enters the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan proper, CWA forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. The storm’s trajectory is still unclear, so more time is
Taichung prosecutors yesterday indicted three people on charges of fraud for allegedly passing off watches assembled in Taiwan as Swiss-made timepieces and earning NT$400 million (US$12.4 million) in illicit gains. The Taichung branch office of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said in a statement that the group, headed by Mei Hua Precision Industry Co (梅華精密) and Laora Trading Co (仁徠貿易) manager Yang Hung-pin (楊鴻斌), had purchased the rights to use the Swiss trademark Ogival years ago and from November 2006 to December 2020 sold 26,282 counterfeit watches in department stores and online platforms in Taiwan. The branch office said they received
PALAU LAUNCHES: The source said that Taiwanese military personnel traveled to Palau, where a US brigade watched their work amid plans for a defense network The military last month participated in live-fire launches of MM-104F Patriot (PAC-3) missiles under US observation in an undisclosed location in Palau, a step forward in a US-led plan to create a joint defense missile system in the first island chain, a source said on condition of anonymity. The PAC-3 is the mainstay surface-to-air missile of the US, NATO and democratic nations in East Asia, the source said, adding that it has never been live-tested within Taiwan’s borders, the source said. The proximity of Taiwan to China and China’s close surveillance of the nation’s borders and nearby sea zones is a significant
TRAJECTORY: Koinu’s outer rim is expected to reach Orchid Island early tomorrow and Taitung at about noon, where waves of at least 6m are forecast A sea warning for Typhoon Koinu was issued at 11:30pm last night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that a land warning could be issued today. High waves of about 2m were observed in Taitung yesterday, while waves of 6m or higher were forecast for today, said Huang Chia-mei (黃嘉美), head of the CWA’s Taitung Weather Station. At noon yesterday, Koinu was about 660km southeast of Taitung, she said, adding that it was moving more to the north and its center could possibly make landfall. The storm’s outer rim would likely reach Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in the early hours tomorrow and