Taiwan cannot trust China to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said yesterday in response to incoming Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) opposition to increasing the military budget.
Cheng, who is on Saturday to start her four-year term as leader of the KMT, said that Taiwan cannot afford President William Lai’s (賴清德) proposal to raise military spending to 3.32 percent of GDP.
However, Chung said the increased spending is needed, as US President Donald Trump has pressured countries aligned with the US to take greater responsibility for their own defense.
Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times
If the KMT hopes to return to power after years in the opposition, it needs to understand the importance of maintaining good relations with democratic allies, he said.
“It is especially important for Taiwan’s leader to maintain friendly ties with the US,” he said.
Taiwan cannot place all of its faith in preserving peace in the goodwill of China, Chung added.
Domestic and international media have suggested that Cheng’s opposition to raising the military budget could upset Washington and Trump.
It is the responsibility of all Taiwanese to safeguard peace and national security, DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said.
“It is important that all of us face up to the military threat from communist China,” Wang said.
Cheng’s opposition to increasing military spending would anger Trump, but those who should really be upset are Taiwanese, he said.
China has raised its military expenditure every year to 1.78 trillion yuan (US$249.95 billion) this year, Wang said.
“We see Beijing bolstering its budget to upgrade weapons and the training of its armed forces. We are facing this increasing military threat, and we must also spend more on defense to safeguard our homeland,” he said.
Beijing opposes Taiwanese sovereignty and any voice advocating for Taiwanese independence, he said.
“They do not want Taiwan’s 23 million people to have any form of national sovereignty, whether we call ourselves ‘Taiwan’ or the ‘Republic of China,’” he added. “It does not matter what term we use. China only wants Taiwanese to accept its ‘one country, two systems’ framework, under which Beijing rules Taiwan.”
Taiwan can only hope to deter a military conflict by preparing for war, and only when Taiwan possesses sufficient military strength can it negotiate peace, Wang said.
If Taiwan weakens its military and undermines national security, it would be at the mercy of an enemy state, which would force Taiwanese to pay a terrible price, he added.
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