The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday defended President William Lai’s (賴清德) plan to raise defense spending to NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.9 billion) over eight years, saying that the nation must be prepared for the worst-case scenario in the Taiwan Strait.
Lai on Wednesday said the spending was decided on under the premise that Beijing aims to take Taiwan by force by 2027.
However, some said the specific statement was changed to “Beijing aims to complete all the preparations needed to unify Taiwan by force by 2027” when the speech was posted on the Presidential Office’s Web site and on Lai’s Facebook page.
Photo: Lin Che-yuan, Taipei Times
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) criticized Lai’s statement, saying it was pushing the country to a state of war and impedes cross-strait exchanges.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said China has regularly dispatched military aircraft and vessels around Taiwan since 2022, adding that Beijing intends to reach its unification goal through “gray zone” harassment and creating division in Taiwan.
Cross-strait tensions have been caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), not Taiwan, he added.
“It seems that the former president always blames Taiwan first when China is provoked to anger. Such a remark is really inappropriate,” Liang said.
The 2027 time frame was first mentioned during the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CCP in October 2020, when the party announced that it would celebrate the centenary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by creating the world’s foremost military, Liang said.
The CCP said the PLA would offer military support for “safeguarding China’s sovereignty and territories to fulfill the dream of a Chinese revival,” he added.
Beijing has since then annually increased its defense spending by more than 7 percent, Liang said, adding that China has the largest navy worldwide, with 370 military vessels on active duty, while the US Navy has about 290 to 300.
Studies by several defense think tanks said that China’s four major shipyards have built 39 military ships over the past four years, showing that China has accelerated its military buildup, he said.
“In international politics, one focuses on whether a country has the capabilities to conduct military invasion, rather than on its intention, which can be changed, hidden and embellished,” Liang said, citing as an example Russia, which on multiple occasions denied it intended to invade Ukraine, then attacked in 2022.
As such, the president mentioned 2027 as the time frame for China to reach its goal, he said, adding that one must be prepared for the worst-case scenario when it comes to national security.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office yesterday said the Democratic Progressive Party could have spent that money improving people’s lives instead of purchasing weapons and pleasing an external force.
Liang said China’s defense spending is 12 to 13 times higher than that of Taiwan.
“If the CCP really cares about cross-strait peace, its funding for defense projects should be used to improve the Chinese economy,” Liang said. “The tension between China and Taiwan could ease, which is good for everyone.”
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