China poses a pressing threat, as its military buildup continues unabated, and effective deterrence is needed to make sure any attack would be very risky for Beijing, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday.
China does not plan to invade Taiwan next year and seeks to control the nation without the use of force, the US intelligence community said on Wednesday, striking a measured tone on one of the world’s biggest potential flashpoints.
Beijing has stepped up pressure on the nation with frequent military drills. Taiwan’s democratically elected government rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
Photo: Chen I-kuan, Taipei Times
Asked about the US report, Koo said China has neither given up the option of using force against Taiwan nor slowed military spending.
“So its military expansion, and the threat it poses to us, remain very serious,” he said. “We need to make it feel like any plan to attack Taiwan would carry a high degree of risk: In other words, to make its assessment of a successful invasion very low.”
If China continues expanding its military while Taiwan’s defense capabilities do not improve, the likelihood of an attack would rise, Koo said.
“On the other hand, if our defense capabilities continue to improve and our deterrence grows stronger, then its calculation regarding an attack on Taiwan will decrease. That would have the effect of pushing back such a date [for invasion] again and again,” he said.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is an internal issue and that the US needs to “stop hyping up the ‘China threat’ theory.”
President William Lai (賴清德) has proposed US$40 billion in extra defense spending, but the plans have been slow to work their way through the legislature, where the opposition, which has the most seats, has complained the Cabinet’s budget proposal is too vague and that lawmakers cannot be expected to sign “blank checks.”
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