Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators yesterday urged the government to create a mechanism to negotiate with Beijing after 150 Chinese warplanes entered the nation’s air defense identification zone this month.
From Friday last week to Tuesday, 150 Chinese People’s Liberation Army aircraft entered the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, Ministry of National Defense data showed.
TPP Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) said that national defense spending this year increased to 23 percent of the general budget, which is in addition to extra defense spending over the next five years to be funded through debt.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“Beyond raising military spending and issuing condemnations, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should pursue other options, including creating a mechanism for conducting realistic negotiations with Beijing that would lower risks for both sides,” he told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
“Taiwan needs some way to deal and coexist with China, our bad neighbor, since we cannot relocate to another place,” he said, adding that the nation must “avoid being entrapped by attrition.”
China is expected to wield threats to foil Taiwan’s attempt to reassert its sovereignty, and continue warplane flights near its airspace to wear down its air force, Jang said, citing Center for a New American Security researcher Jacob Stokes.
Chinese state media would continue to play up the activities of its air force around Taiwan to normalize acts of aggression it might take, he said.
TPP Legislator Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶) said that China aims to complete its military modernization by 2027, and its increasing dictatorial leadership indicates it is more willing to consider the use of military force than ever before.
Beijing has also ratcheted up diplomatic and economic pressure, such as by pre-empting Taiwan’s establishment of a trade office in Guyana, targeting Taiwanese professionals for recruitment and placing embargoes on Taiwanese fruit, she said.
The escalation of a US-China trade dispute has intensified Taiwan’s dependence on China-bound trade over the past two years, especially in the component packaging industry, Lai said.
Taiwan’s dependence on exports to China has increased yearly during Tsai’s second term in office, rising to 43.8 percent last year, she added.
“The Ministry of Economic Affairs knows full well whether China is dependent on imports from Taiwan or we are dependent on exports to that country,” she said.
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